The Notre Dame coaching search is less than a week old and on a serpentine path requiring motion-sickness medication to follow. Just Saturday, Bob Stoops left the running for the third time, Brian Kelly said he would entertain overtures before not entertaining questions and everyone wondered when the dust storm would settle.

Despite a published report that a coaching announcement could come as early as Sunday, a source with knowledge of the situation told the Tribune that timetable was inaccurate. The process, however, should conclude by the end of this week.
As for any finality Saturday, a couple of grand-slam candidates are now out of reach, whether Notre Dame pursued them or not. Athletic director Jack Swarbrick can move on to coaches more amenable to his advances, which thrust Cincinnati’s Kelly squarely into the klieg lights.
Kelly told ESPN he would “entertain” job talk from Notre Dame only after his team’s game Saturday at Pittsburgh. Except that didn’t mean considering questions after an exhilarating 45-44 victory.
“I’m not going to talk about any job situations,” Kelly told reporters. “I’m going to enjoy this victory. Let’s talk about back-to-back (Big East) championship teams and these kids.”
Kelly has told his team he would remain at Cincinnati (12-0), but that statement was made before Saturday and Notre Dame was likely to wait to make a formal approach until after the de facto Big East championship game anyway.
The focus certainly shifts to Kelly, at least publicly. He and his three straight seasons of 10-plus victories make sense for the Irish, even with some late-season defensive deficiencies. But it remains to be seen whether the interest is indeed mutual.
As for Stoops, the published report Saturday labeled him the leading candidate for that potential Sunday announcement. But the source told the Tribune that Notre Dame respected Stoops’ wishes not to contact him and never made a contract offer.
What’s more, by the time the report emerged, Stoops had issued a statement vaporizing his involvement.
“There haven’t been any plans for a meeting or negotiations with Notre Dame and there will not be,” Stoops said in part. “Any reporting to that fact is completely erroneous. I will not be the next coach at Notre Dame.”
Stoops’ remarks, plus no mention of Florida’s Urban Meyer, should take the marquee names out of play. Thus a quick deal with another party is crucial and appears likely.
As for the old coach slinking away, Charlie Weis held court with five hand-picked members of the media Saturday with no Chicago outlets present.
Weis said his fate essentially was sealed in a meeting with Swarbrick before the Connecticut game.
“I felt when we lost to Navy, it did not bode well for where this was headed,” Weis said, according to the South Bend Tribune. “I still felt we had time to resolve the issues, but I thought that was a bad loss. ... But really ... the Monday after the Connecticut game, it was over.”
The search for the next guy, meanwhile, might be over sooner rather than later.