On late Tuesday night Pete Thamel of Sports Illustrated reported that associate head coach Mike Denbrock is expected to leave Notre Dame for the offensive coordinator post at Cincinnati under Luke Fickell. Denbrock has logged 10 years at Notre Dame under two head coaches and his relationship with Kelly dates back to Grand Valley State.

Also one of Notre Dame’s better recruiters, Denbrock’s profile on Kelly’s staff has risen in the past three seasons, moving into the offensive coordinator post in 2014 followed by a promotion to associate head coach the past two years. He also served as play caller on Kelly’s most prolific scoring offenses during that time.

In fact, during the three seasons with Denbrock in a leadership role, the Irish cleared 30 points per game all three years. In Kelly’s first four years here, Notre Dame didn’t surpass that mark once.

Denbrock’s reported move down the coaching ladder would mean Kelly would be replacing his associate head coach, both coordinators, special teams coach and turning over strength and conditioning in advance of a season that’s make-or-break for him in South Bend after last year’s 4-8 disaster.

A source told Irish Illustrated that Denbrock’s role is going to change next year even if he remains on staff, with the veteran assistant likely returning to a position coach with receivers and likely not calling plays.

A source told Irish Illustrated Wednesday morning that while an offer from Cincinnati to Denbrock likely has been extended, Denbrock has not told Notre Dame that he is leaving. The source also indicated that Denbrock has been in communication with Notre Dame about Cincinnati’s interest in his services.

Denbrock has been consistently good in all his roles since returning to South Bend under Kelly, first coaching tight ends for two seasons (Kyle Rudolph and Tyler Eifert) before moving to receivers (TJ Jones, Will Fuller, Chris Brown and Equanimeous St. Brown) during the BCS National Championship Game season.

It’s not clear what Kelly’s next staff move will be, although Irish Illustrated reported earlier this month that assistant strength coach Jeff Quinn – Kelly’s offensive coordinator at Cincinnati – was likely to take over tight ends following Scott Booker’s dismissal.

The University announced Brian Polian as special teams coordinator on Tuesday, taking half of Booker’s job description in the process.

It all means the Irish are potentially without a receivers coach, quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator with five weeks to go until National Signing Day. There has been no official hire at tight ends either.