Entering his 30th season as a collegiate head coach in 2020 and 11th year at the University of Notre Dame, Brian Kelly has brought a championship tradition to the Fighting Irish.

Kelly is the winningest active coach in NCAA football (all divisions). He is the only coach to win the Home Depot Coach of the Year Award (2009, 2012 and 2018) on more than one occasion. Kelly is the 4th winningest coach in school history.

His .735 winning percentage trails only Nick Saban among active FBS coaches with at least 15 years of head coaching experience.

NOTRE DAME ON OFFENSE:

Tommy Rees returns to his alma mater following a season as an offensive assistant with the San Diego Chargers where he worked with an offense that ranked tied for 7th in the NFL in passing (262.4), 9th in scoring (25.6), tied for 12th in yards/play (5.6) and 14th in total offense (356.8). San Diego quarterback Philip Rivers threw for 4,386 yards and 33 TDs, which ranked 4th and 5th, respectively, in the NFL in 2016.

NOTRE DAME ON DEFENSE:

Clark Lea took over as the Irish defensive coordinator coach in 2018. He led Notre Dame’s defense to Top 25 FBS rankings in fewest TD passes allowed (7, tied 2nd), passing yards allowed/attempt (5.4, tied 3rd), pass efficiency defense (100.8/4th), fewest plays of at least 30 yards (12, 4th), fewest plays of at least 40 yards (4, tied 4th), fewest total yards/play (4.53, 8th), fewest plays of at least 20 yards (35, 8th), fewest TDs allowed (24, tied 8th), fewest plays of at least 50 yards (2, tied 8th), points allowed/game (17.3 tied 9th) and total defense (331.5, 21st).

Lea has guided an Irish defense that also allowed: 15.0 points/game in its 4 matchups with AP top-25 opponents, which is 2nd best in the FBS (among schools with at least 4 such games), 13.7 points/game in its 2 matchups with current AP Top 25 opponents, which ranks 2nd in the FBS and 14.4 points/game in its 5 matchups against FBS teams with a winning record, which ranked 2nd best in the FBS.

The game will air at 7:30 pm Saturday on NBC. Clemson trails the all-time series 5-2, but is listed as a 6.5 point favorite.