BCS National Championship Game 2013: Brian Kelly downplays NFL rumors

At Saturday's BCS National Championship Game media day, Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly downplayed rumors that NFL teams have contacted him about their coaching vacancies before eventually denying that he had any interest at all.

Here is what Kelly had to say, with his quote coming via the Twitter feed of ESPN.com's Brett McMurphy:

"It's flattering if there is interest which I don't know that there is," Kelly said.

According to the Pac-12's Bryan Fischer, Kelly took a more firm stance later in the press conference, adding:

"Leaving is not an option. I don’t even think about it," Kelly said.

Kelly's hard-line attitude comes in a week where rumors began to surface that Kelly was on the radar of several NFL clubs. On Tuesday CBSSports.com's Bruce Feldman tweeted, " Brian Kelly is rising on some NFL teams radar as well."

It also comes during a time in which a number of high-level college head coaches have at least listened to offers from the NFL.

Oregon's Chip Kelly met with the Browns on Friday, and will reportedly meet with both the Bills and Eagles later this weekend, while Syracuse's Doug Marrone has garnered interest from Buffalo as well. Penn State's Bill O'Brien interviewed with the Browns earlier this week, before returning to State College.

Kelly is in his third year at Notre Dame after arriving from Cincinnati in the winter of 2009.