Chip Long, Notre Dame’s offensive coordinator the last three seasons under Brian Kelly, is not expected to be retained by the Irish.

Sources have confirmed the news initially reported by FootballScoop. Long is not expected to serve as Notre Dame’s coordinator for the Dec. 28 Camping World Bowl against Iowa State.

Long worked under Mike Norvell, who is now Florida State’s new head coach, at both Arizona State and Memphis. With the Sun Devils, Long worked as a position coach in Norvell’s offense and served as Norvell’s offensive coordinator with the Tigers. Norvell has already hired former Auburn offensive coordinator Kenny Dillingham in the same role with the Seminoles.

Notre Dame is expected to hire a replacement from within, most likely current quarterbacks coach Tom Rees. Running backs coach Lance Taylor also could interview for the job. Neither Rees nor Taylor have previous offensive coordinator experience. Long came to Notre Dame after serving as offensive coordinator at Memphis for one season (2016).

Long, who helped create Kelly’s three most successful seasons offensively from 2017-19, was expected to make a recent recruiting trip with Taylor to visit 2021 running back Will Shipley. Long did not make the trip. Sources say Long returned to Notre Dame to meet with Kelly instead.

The Irish averaged 34.2 points per game in 2017, tying the highwater mark since Kelly took over in 2010. After averaging 31.4 points per game in 2018, the Irish averaged 37.1 points per game during the 2019 regular season.

Throughout Long's tenure, there has been a give-and-take with Kelly. While Long calls the plays, it's still Kelly's offense. Prior to the 2019 season, Long discussed how he and Kelly collaborate to make sure they aren't getting in each other's way when Notre Dame has the football.

“Coach Kelly does a great job situationally with me,” said Long at last week’s Notre Dame Club of Fort Wayne (Ind.) golf outing. “He’ll come up and say, ‘If we cross the 50-yard line, it’s four-down territory.’

“So now we’re on that same drive and it’s 3rd-and-8. He’ll say, ‘Hey, if we get into 4th-and-3, we’ll go for it.’ That enables me to run the ball on 3rd-and-8 if I want to. The defense isn’t expecting it and we get to 4th-and-3. I know I’m going for it if I hit that yardage. There isn’t total panic. We don’t have to call a timeout or just waste the whole drive."

Rees quarterbacked the Irish from 2010-13 before moving on to the coaching ranks in 2015 as an offensive graduate assistant at Northwestern. He then served as an offensive analyst for the San Diego Chargers in 2016 before returning to his alma mater as quarterbacks coach in 2017, a title he has held the last three seasons.