Could Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly really bolt South Bend for the pros? Members of the media and Fighting Irish fans alike are not ruling out the possibility.

Is Brian Kelly Headed for the NFL?

Jason McIntyre, editor-in-chief of USA Today's The Big Lead, indicated last month that Kelly was interested in pursuing an NFL job, and this week Sirius XM's Jack Arute floated out the same notion on Twitter and his radio show.

Arute's comments spread like wildfire on the mega-popular college football message board 24/7 Sports, with everyone from Michigan Wolverines fans, to West Virginia fans, to, of course, Irish fans themselves digesting the rumors.

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In particular, the NFL team that seems most readily linked to Kelly is the Oakland Raiders, so much so in fact that "Brian Kelly Raiders" was trending on Twitter briefly on Wednesday.

There are certainly a host of legitimate reasons to believe Kelly may have coached his final season with the Irish. He's 53 and has never coached on the pro level -- he may consider this off-season a 'now or never' type of opportunity. Kelly's also reportedly been on the outs with ND athletic director Jack Swarbrick. Additionally, the success of other recent college coaches like Jim Harbaugh and Chip Kelly who made the jump ensures that NFL teams are less wary to look to the college ranks for coaching talent than they had been in years past.