Brian Kelly has made difficult staffing decisions before. He fired offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock following the 2016 season. Denbrock went back to Kelly’s Grand Valley State days. Denbrock was in Kelly’s wedding.

Kelly made another tough call within the last week when he decided to part ways with offensive coordinator/tight ends coach Chip Long after three years of mostly quality offensive football, including the highest scoring output in Kelly’s 10 seasons at Notre Dame during the recently-completed 2019 regular season.

“I made a change in the staff on the offensive side of the ball which I thought was in the best interest of our program,” Kelly said. “Subsequently, we’ve organized a staff to reflect those changes.”

Kelly will turn over the offense to running backs coach Lance Taylor and quarterbacks coach Tommy Rees for the upcoming Camping World Bowl against Iowa State on Dec. 28. Beyond that remains to be seen.

“It will be a collaboration that requires guys to pick up additional roles,” Kelly said. “Lance Taylor will handle the run-game coordination. Tommy Rees will handle the pass-game. As it relates to play-calling, we’re still sorting that out.”

Kelly ruled out returning to play-calling duties himself – for the Camping World Bowl and beyond.

“I’m not calling the plays. I will not call the plays. That’s not my role. I’ve moved past that role,” Kelly said. “I will certainly be much more involved in the organization of the offense. I’ll make sure that our room is where I want it to be and I think it is. I will assist and be there to lean on and consult with. But this will be a collaborative approach coming from Lance and coming from Tom.

“Somebody will be the primary play caller (for the Camping World Bowl). I just haven’t made that decision.”

Kelly said he’s prepared to make more difficult decisions moving forward, suggesting that the person replacing Long on the staff could be an offensive line coach, a tight ends coach or a quarterbacks coach. Offensive line coach Jeff Quinn has come under fire from the outside – and Long – who reportedly wanted a change.

“That’s not to say I want to move any of the coaches I have. I think I’ve got good football coaches,” Kelly said. “I don’t know how to say this any clearer. I’m going to do what’s in the best interest of this football team. Not me. I’m not going to do what’s in my best interest.

“I’ve already made a tough decision. I’ve had to make other tough decisions. I made them a few years ago. I had to let go of guys that stood up in my wedding. So I’m not afraid to make tough choices. I’m going to make decisions that are in the best interest of Notre Dame’s football program and gives us the best chance to win a national championship.”

Kelly admitted that he was mostly satisfied with the job that Long did as offensive coordinator and play-caller.

“Any time that you’re scoring points at the level we were, you’re pleased in that respect,” Kelly said. “There were some other things that I wasn’t as pleased with. But overall, this is not an offense that lagged in the back half of many categories. It was in the top half or top third of many.

“Is that the only way you judge an offense? Probably not, but by and large, this offense…we’re not going to run the ball 655 times like they did in ’89. So having said that, the offense will have some slight nuances, but by and large, the product and what resulted was pretty darn good.”

Kelly also said the players did not make the decision for him, obviously addressing the speculation that the offensive players pushed for a change to be made at offensive coordinator.

“Any head coach has to have the pulse of his team, but if you’re asking if I had interviews with my team to make a decision, absolutely not,” Kelly said. “But any head coach that does not have the pulse of his football team is not going to be the head coach for very long.”

Working with the tight ends in Long’s absence will be offensive graduate assistant Pat Kramer and defensive graduate assistant David Kekuewa, who has a background working with tight ends and offensive linemen at Minnesota.

Kelly put no timetable on making any long-range decisions, stating simply that the first priority is to put an organized staff together for the Camping World Bowl and then conducting a thorough search.

“We’re going to do a thorough evaluation and search for what I would consider the best coach that fits Notre Dame,” Kelly said. “We had an offensive coordinator who was extremely successful and I did what I thought was best for the program.

“I’m going to do what’s best for the program. That doesn’t mean default back to hiring just to hire somebody. We’re going to do what’s in the best interest of the football program.”

Kelly said the 2020 offense will look familiar.

“(The differences) will be subtle but there will be some differences,” Kelly said. “Every offensive coordinator has his own touches to the way the offense would look. The base structure will fundamentally look the same, but there will be some nuances. When you look at it closely, you’ll see the differences.”

Kelly offered one final promise.

“We’re going to have a really good football team coming back,” Kelly said. “A really good one. The scheduling is challenging but one that will position us with games with Wisconsin and Clemson and USC, to name a few.

“We want the best staff moving forward to put our players in the best position to succeed and win a national championship.”