Notre Dame replaces defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder

Notre Dame’s disastrous defensive start has cost Irish defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder his job.

The team said Sunday VanGorder had been “relieved” of his duties as the team’s defensive coordinator and would be replaced by defensive analyst Greg Hudson.

“This is a difficult decision,” Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly said in a statement. “I have the utmost respect for Brian as both a person and football coach, but our defense simply isn’t it where it should be and I believe this change is necessary for the best interest of our program and our student-athletes.

“It’s never easy to make a change on your staff, but I’m confident in Greg’s ability to lead our defense. As a former player at Notre Dame and an experienced defensive coordinator, he not only understands the expectations necessary to compete at the highest level, but he’ll bring a fresh perspective to our sideline, practice field and meeting rooms.”

VanGorder has been Notre Dame’s defensive coordinator since the beginning of 2014.

Notre Dame’s lone win this season is over Nevada. In its losses to Texas, Michigan State and Duke, the Irish have given up an average of 41.3 points per game.

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After the game Saturday night, Kelly said there would be “personnel changes.” But when he was asked if those personnel changes would affect the team’s defensive structure, he had this to say.

“Actually, that’s probably the one area that I feel better about today,” Kelly said following the 38-35 loss. “We did what I wanted today in terms of coaching. And coaching had nothing to do with the outcome today. I was pleased from that perspective. Obviously, we put our defense in a bad situation today and they gave our offense a chance to win, quite frankly. Those turnovers were deadly and obviously the kick off return for a touchdown just put us in a tough situation.

“There are things that I want to get better at defensively, there’s no question. But that’s the least of my concerns after today.”

Pretty good bluff.

A former assistant at Florida State, Hudson is a graduate of Notre Dame. The Irish play Syracuse and North Carolina State over the next two weeks before playing Stanford.

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Nick Bromberg is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
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