A day after Notre Dame suffered its biggest upset loss in 20 years, coach Brian Kelly announced Sunday he had fired defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder.
Defensive analyst Greg Hudson, a Notre Dame alum, will take over VanGorder's responsibilities.
The decision to fire VanGorder, who was in his third season, was announced a day after the Irish fell 38-35 to Duke, against whom they were 21-point favorites.
Kelly also warned that everyone's spot on the team was in jeopardy _ including his own.
"Players' jobs are on the line; all coaches' jobs are on the line," Kelly said. "I'm under review as well.
"When you're 1-3 at Notre Dame, changes are going to be made. Our defense simply isn't where it should be and I believe this change is necessary for the best interest of our program and our student-athletes."
Kelly continually had backed VanGorder publicly, saying Saturday night that the team's struggling defense was the least of his concerns.
He also insisted Sept. 18, a day after a 36-28 loss to Michigan State, that VanGorder was the right person to coach his defense.
"Absolutely," Kelly said. "Without question. That's not even part of the conversation."
Kelly said Sunday that he had a chance to further evaluate VanGorder's standing with the team after Saturday's loss and he made the decision he felt was best.
According to tax records, VanGorder made $1.1 million in his first season at Notre Dame.
Kelly said there will be some tweaks on defensive side of the ball, but "we're not going to pull the rug from underneath the kids at this point in the season."
Notre Dame, now 1-3 for the first time since Kelly's first season in 2010, ranks 103rd in total defense after Saturday's loss, the team's fourth in five games and fifth in a row against team from a Power 5 conference.
Duke had scored a combined 27 points in its previous two games _ losses against Wake Forest and Northwestern.
The Irish also are 101st in point allowed per game (33.5), 104th in yards per play allowed (6.18), 96th in rushing defense (201 yards per game) and 87th in passing (253).
Notre Dame was the last of 128 FBS teams to record a sack this season, which linebacker Nyles Morgan did Saturday against Duke.
The Irish also have allowed a national-worst five plays of at least 60 yards this season.
"Guys play hard, but we lacked some of the energy and enthusiasm and fun when you play on defense," Kelly said, adding that he had been evaluating VanGorder more closely since a season-opening, 50-47 loss at Texas, which came on the heels of two straight losses to end last season.
"That got my attention," Kelly said.
Hudson was Purdue's defensive coordinator from 2013-15. He was an assistant head coach and linebackers coach at Florida State from 2010-12 and before that spent five seasons as defensive coordinator at East Carolina.
"Obviously this is a difficult day for our coaching staff," Hudson said. "But I'm excited and honored about the opportunity Coach Kelly has afforded me.
"We've got to improve on defense, without a doubt, and I'm confident that we will."
