Brian Kelly says Notre Dame might not play in Playoff 'if the parents can't be there'

Undefeated Notre Dame is currently positioned as the No. 2 team in the College Football Playoff.

However, Fighting Irish coach Brian Kelly is threatening that the program might not play in the CFP because of the COVID-19 restrictions on family attendance. One of the semifinals sites, the Rose Bowl, will be spectator free because of the county’s stay-at-home order.

Kelly doesn’t see the point in having Notre Dame travel across the country and not being able to have families at the contest.

#NotreDame Coach Brian Kelly on the possibility of not playing in the College Football Playoff due to covid restrictions on family attendance: “I’m not sure we’ll play in the playoffs if the parents can’t be there. Why would we play if you can’t have families at the game?”#cfp

— Michael Eaves (@michaeleaves) December 18, 2020

Kelly continued: “If you can’t have families at bowl games, why would you go to a game where your families can’t be part of it? What’s the sense of playing a game in an area of the country where nobody can be part of it?” #cfp #notredame

— Michael Eaves (@michaeleaves) December 18, 2020

This could just be a leverage play by Kelly but it’ll be fascinating to see how this all ends up. If the rankings remain the same, Notre Dame would face No. 4 Ohio State in the semifinals.