How does Brian Kelly leaving Notre Dame affect Wisconsin?

News broke last night that Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly would be leaving the Irish and taking the LSU job. Normally, as Wisconsin fans, we can watch from a distance and just watch what happens without feeling much of an effect from moves like this.

But even though he isn’t coming into the Big Ten Conference, this move could still directly impact the Wisconsin football program, especially in the short term.

Brian Kelly has been a great coach for Notre Dame. He’s done a lot of winning in South Bend and he has done a great job recruiting as well. That’s where Wisconsin could be impacted.

I’m looking at one recruiting battle between the Badgers and the Irish. And that’s the battle for St. Mary Springs’ Billy Schrauth. Schrauth is a part of the big 2022 recruiting class out of the state of Wisconsin. That class also includes Wisconsin-commit Joe Brunner (Whitefish Bay) and targets Carson Hinzman (Saint Croix Central) and Isaac Hamm (Sun Prairie).

Schrauth is reportedly down to Wisconsin and Notre Dame and rumors are he has been leaning toward Notre Dame for the past few weeks. Schrauth had a great visit to Wisconsin early last summer and the Badgers were the supposed favorite to land him. But as the Wisconsin football season went on, it seemed like the Irish were closing that gap again and were even seen as the favorites to land him.

With Brian Kelly leaving Notre Dame now, you have to wonder how that could affect Schrauth’s decision. He undoubtedly built a relationship with Kelly and the Irish coaching staff. Whoever Notre Dame hires will likely want to bring in their own coaching staff, one that Schrauth won’t have the same relationship with.

Kelly leaving Notre Dame for LSU could be a big advantage for the Badgers in landing Schrauth. Granted, there’s no guarantee he still won’t commit to Notre Dame because he likes the program, but you have to think that Brian Kelly leaving Notre Dame does nothing but help Wisconsin.