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✦ NEWS & NOTES BY LOU SOMOGYI and Connecticut, respectively. There was some speculation that Diaco might hire current Irish defensive line coach Mike Elston as his coordinator, but Kelly indicated after the Dec. 14 Notre Dame practice that, "I expect all my staff to stay in place." Later that same weekend, Elston tweeted that he was staying at Notre Dame. By the looks of it, Elston, cornerbacks coach and interim defensive coordinator Kerry Cooks, and safeties coach Bob Elliott would keep the continuity through the Pinstripe Bowl and into next year. Also, second-year graduate assistant Josh Reardon worked with Diaco throughout 2012 and 2013 with the linebackers and has a history with Kelly dating back to his days at Central Michigan. Reardon also was the outside linebackers coach at Holy Cross in 2011, so he provides a strong base of knowledge to assist for the bowl game. The offense is even less of a concern because it's Kelly's system. He can work with the quarterbacks and help assemble the game plan with interim offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach Mike Denbrock, who has a history with Kelly dating back to their Grand Valley State days from 1992-98. The offense is rounded out with running backs coach Tony Alford, offensive line coach Harry Hiestand and tight ends coach Scott Booker. STAFF SUPPORT Former Notre Dame head coach Lou Holtz (1986-96) used to joke that he would prefer to die like Abraham of the Old Testament — by leaning on his staff. Meanwhile, current Fighting Irish head coach Brian Kelly understands what it's like to coach in a bowl game short-staffed. Hired by Cincinnati from Central Michigan University in December 2006 to succeed Mark Dantonio (who took the Michigan State post), Kelly actually coached in the bowl game for the Bearcats on short notice — and defeated Western Michigan 27-24 in the International Bowl in January 2007. It helped that Kelly's Central Michigan team had already defeated Western Michigan during the season, but he basically had three staff members for that bowl victory. Thus, Kelly joked that he doesn't have too much empathy for Rutgers head coach Kyle Flood and his smaller staff. The day after the Scarlet Knights' 31-6 victory over South Florida Dec. 7 qualified 6-6 Rutgers for the Pinstripe Bowl, Flood fired three of his assistants: defensive coordinator Dave Cohen, quarterbacks coach Rob Spence and offensive line coach Damian Wroblewsk. "I just want to let him know he's got too many staff members," joked Kelly earlier this month in a shared press conference with Flood in New York. "When I was at Cincinnati, we had three staff members and we coached in the bowl game against Western Michigan. … And we won that game, so I think he's fine. I don't think you have to worry about him having not enough coaches." Kelly has his own slots to fill this month after losing offensive coordinator Chuck Martin and defensive coordinator Bob Diaco to head coaching jobs at Miami (Ohio) EXPERIENCE PREFERRED Rutgers head coach Kyle Flood fired three of his assistants after his team's regular-season finale, leaving him short-staffed for the bowl game versus Notre Dame. PHOTO COURTESY RUTGERS ✦ PAGE 8 Head coach Brian Kelly provided some insight into what he is seeking from the future Irish defensive coordinator. One requirement is he needs to be comfortable running both 3-4 and 4-3 alignments, which the head coach plans to utilize. Kelly said it's been about 50-50 with the two schemes, and it's necessary because of the various types of offenses Notre Dame plays, plus the constant fluctuation