Posted by: Chris Vannini on September 9, 2012

Brian Kelly raised eyebrows Saturday when he put in a cold Tommy Rees with two minutes to play in a tie game.

Kelly proved right when Rees drove the Irish down for a game-winning field goal against Purdue. As it turned out, starter Everett Golson had suffered a slight thumb injury, but the coach said Sunday he was likely going with Rees anyway.

"I had already begun the conversation with (Chuck) Martin about installing Tommy into that situation. So the knowledge of running our two‑minute trumped any kind of injury that he may have had. Now, it contributed in the end to make it an easier decision for me. "

Did Kelly create a quarterback controversy? He doesn't think so, and reiterated that Golson will remain the team's starter. Kelly said he's not worried about Golson reacting negatively, given the trust between the two.

"Yeah, I think we spend so much time together that he's going to know that what we tell him is what we mean," Kelly said. "We are not going to be sending mixed messages. There's got to be a trust factor there that, 'Hey, what we tell you is what we mean. Let's go back to work.' So I think if you only talk to him once a week, yeah, you probably would have those concerns, but we eat dinner together every day.  So there's constant communication where we are all on the same page."

Below is a behind-the-scenes look at Notre Dame's win, with a celebrity spotting.

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Chris Vannini is a lead writer for CoachingSearch.com and has covered Michigan State sports for The State News, The Oakland Press and MLive.com. He writes a weekly column for the Detroit Free Press on behalf of SB Nation. Vannini lives in Big Ten country, so his foot speed is far from SEC caliber, but his pulse on coaches is hard to match. Be sure to follow @CoachingBuzz on twitter and send your feedback to chris@coachingsearch.com