Brian Kelly Tweets He Will 'Listen' To Irish; Jim Harbaugh Also in Mix

Cincinnati coach Brian Kelly wrote on his Twitter page that Notre Dame has contacted him and he will meet with the Irish.

"Just informed our team that Notre Dame has contracted me and I will listen to what they have to say," Kelly wrote about 4 p.m. Monday on his Twitter page.

The New York Times also reported that Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh and Kelly will meet with Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick in New York City this week.

Earlier today, Kelly told radio host Dan Patrick that he would know his future by Saturday. ESPN.com initially reported today that Kelly would interview for the Notre Dame head coach job on Tuesday.

"I really have not sat down and had a chance to evaluate what is it that's in the future," Kelly said on the Dan Patrick Show. "I'm going to do that over the next few days."

Patrick asked Kelly is he could guarantee he would be coaching the Bearcats in the Sugar Bowl.

"No, there's not guarantees in anything that you do," Kelly said. "I've never given a guarantee whether I was going to make it home at the end of the day."

Just two days ago after Kelly's Bearcats defeated Pittsburgh 45-44 to win the Big East title, Kelly said he wouldn't "talk about any job situations."

On Wednesday, however, he told an ABC production crew he would "entertain" discussions with the Fighting Irish. He made those comments with the condition ABC wouldn't release that information until after Saturday's game with Pittsburgh had begun.

When pressed about his future plans after the win Saturday, Kelly went on the offensive.

"I'm not going to get into any of that," Kelly said. "I think we've all learned a lot of things in the last couple of weeks, OK? There is more misinformation out there and you folks need to get a handle on it, because it's ridiculous. I'm going to talk about back-to-back championships and I'm going to talk about this football team."

After the victory, Cincinnati senior wide receiver Mardy Gilyard told FanHouse that Kelly had told the team earlier in the week he wasn't leaving.

"We ain't going to lose him," Gilyard told FanHouse on Saturday. "He ain't going nowhere. He already addressed the team on that a couple of days ago.

"That's dust under the rug. It's been popping up everywhere. Coach, he didn't shy away from it. Coach said, 'Listen guys, I'm here. I'm here to stay. I like you guys. I like the city. I like my team.' He's never lied to me personally."

Last month, FanHouse asked Kelly why people should believe he will remain at Cincinnati.

"Why doesn't everyone question if Bob Stoops will stay at his job?" Kelly told FanHouse Nov. 12. "Why is Cincinnati not a destination job? How can you say this is not a destination job? You don't know how good a job Cincinnati is. You can build something that no one has built here.

"We're doing something here that's never been done before. It's not how Bo Schembechler, Woody Hayes or Bobby Bowden did it before you. You don't hear that."

Cincinnati athletic director Mike Thomas told FanHouse last month that he realizes other schools will come after Kelly, who has won consecutive Big East title at Cincinnati.

"People have already showed interest in the past, I think that's a reflection of the success that we've had," Thomas said last month. "It's certainly better than the alternative. I'd rather have someone want my coach because we're winning than the alternative. It's the nature of the business. It falls under the job description."

Cincinnati sophomore quarterback Zach Collaros told FanHouse last month the team realizes Kelly is being sought after by other schools.

"Why wouldn't people want him as a coach?" Collaros said. "Especially after the job he's done here."