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For Immediate Release: January 2, 2013 Contact: Al Carbone (203) 671-4421 - Follow us on Twitter @WalterCampPR

Notre Dame’s Brian Kelly Named 2012 “Coach of the Year”

NEW HAVEN, CT – Brian Kelly, of the undefeated and BCS National Championship Game- bound Notre Dame Fighting Irish, has been named the Walter Camp 2012 Coach of the Year. The Walter Camp Coach of the Year is selected by the nation’s 124 Football Bowl Subdivision head coaches and sports information directors. Kelly is the first Notre Dame coach to receive the award. Under Kelly’s direction, the top-ranked Fighting Irish (12-0) earned their first Discover BCS Bowl Championship Game appearance and will meet No. 2 Alabama (12-1) on January 7 in Miami. It is Notre Dame’s first unbeaten regular season since 1988. Notre Dame's 2012 season has been highlighted by victories over ranked teams at the time the Fighting Irish played them: Michigan, Michigan State, Stanford and Oklahoma. As a team, Notre Dame leads the nation in scoring defense, allowing just 10.3 points per game, while ranking sixth in total defense, allowing 286.83 yards per contest. The Fighting Irish rank fourth in rushing defense (92.4 yards allowed per game). Several Notre Dame players earned 2012 All-America accolades from the Walter Camp Foundation. Senior Manti Te’o was a First Team honoree and was selected as the 2012 Walter Camp Player of the Year – the third defensive player to earn the award. Three other Irish players – senior Tyler Eifert, senior offensive lineman Zack Martin and sophomore defensive end Stephon Tuitt – were Second Team All-America honorees. Kelly was hired as Notre Dame’s 29th coach on December 10, 2009. In three seasons, Kelly has a 28-10 (.733) and is headed for Notre Dame’s first national championship game appearance in 23 years. Prior to his arrival in South Bend, Kelly was the head coach at three schools – Cincinnati (2007-09), Central Michigan (2004-06) and Grand Valley State (1991-2003). At Cincinnati, Kelly led the Bearcats to an impressive 34-6 (.850) record and two straight Big East Conference titles and BCS bowl appearances. Kelly served three seasons at Central Michigan, registering a 19-16 overall record, including a 9-4 mark and a Mid-American Conference title in 2006. His first head coaching job was at Grand Valley State, a Division II school in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. For 13 years, Kelly totaled a 118-35-2 (.767) record, highlighted by two NCAA Division III national championships (2002 and 2003). In 22 seasons as a head coach, Kelly has an overall record of 199-67-2 (.746). Born in Everett, Mass, Kelly is a 1983 graduate of the Assumption College and earned a B.A. in political science after earning four varsity letters (as a linebacker) and serving as a two-year captain. Kelly started his coaching career at his alma mater, serving four years as and also coached the softball team.

1 Coach Kelly and Te’o, along with members of the 2012 Walter Camp All-America team, will be honored at the organization’s national awards banquet on Saturday, January 12, 2013 at the Commons in New Haven. In addition, the Foundation will recognize three individuals – former Nebraska head coach and , former NFL player and coach and NFL All-Pro Derrick Brooks – with major awards. Walter Camp, “The Father of ,” first selected an All-America team in 1889. Camp – a former Yale University athlete and football coach – is also credited with developing play from scrimmage, set plays, the numerical assessment of goals and tries and the restriction of play to eleven men per side. The Walter Camp Football Foundation – a New Haven-based all-volunteer group – was founded in 1967 to perpetuate the ideals of Camp and to continue the tradition of selecting annually an All-America team. The Walter Camp Football Foundation is a member of the National Awards Association (NCFAA). The NCFAA was founded in 1997 as a coalition of the major collegiate football awards to protect, preserve and enhance the integrity, influence and prestige of the game’s predominant awards. The NCFAA encourages professionalism and the highest standards for the administration of its member awards and the selection of their candidates and recipients. Visit http://www.ncfaa.org.

Walter Camp Coach of the Year recipients 1985 – Fisher DeBerry, Air Force 2012 – Brian Kelly, Notre Dame 1984 – Joe Morrisson, South Carolina 2011 – , LSU 1983 – Mike White, Illinois 2010 – , Oregon 1982 – , Louisiana State 2009 – , TCU 1981 – , 2008 – , Alabama 1980 – , Georgia 2007 – , Kansas 1979 – , Wake Forest 2006 – , Rutgers 1978 – , Missouri 2005 – , Penn State 1977 – , Arkansas 2004 – , Auburn 1976 – Frank R. Burns, Rutgers 2003 – , Oklahoma 1975 – , Arizona State 2002 – , Iowa 1974 – , Oklahoma 2001 – , Maryland 1973 – , Pittsburgh 2000 – Bob Stoops, Oklahoma 1972 – Joe Paterno, Penn State 1999 – , Tech 1971 – , Nebraska 1998 – Bill Synder, Kansas State 1970 – Bob Blackman, Dartmouth 1997 – , Michigan 1969 – , Michigan 1996 – , Arizona State 1968 – , State 1995 – , Northwestern 1967 – , Indiana 1994 – Joe Paterno, Penn State 1993 – , Auburn 1992 – , Alabama #### 1991 – , Florida State 1990 – , Georgia Tech 1989 – Bill McCartney, Colorado 1988 – , West Virginia 1987 – Dick MacPherson, Syracuse 1986 – Jimmy Johnson, Miami

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