Kelly says his staffer accidentally 'liked' tweet suggesting he fire DC

Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly said Sunday it was a staffer - not him - who accidentally hit the "like" button on a tweet suggesting the Irish fire defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder.

"I have a number of people that manage my Twitter account," Kelly said on a teleconference, according to Matt Fortuna of ESPN. "Just obviously going through it, somebody unfortunately made a mistake as they were scrolling through, inadvertently hit it and just a mistake, an unfortunate mistake that was made by one of my staff members."

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VanGorder was on the receiving end of criticism galore Saturday night, after his defense gave up 38 points and 501 yards in a loss to Michigan State. It was the second time this season that Notre Dame has surrendered more than 500 yards to an opponent's offense, and the unit now ranks 104th in total defense through three weeks.

But Kelly, who appeared upset with VanGorder toward the end of Saturday's loss, still gave his defensive coordinator a public vote of confidence.

"There's not a question about scheme," said Kelly. "There's not a question about who's leading it with Brian. This is about coaching, communicating and teaching the fundamentals and getting our young players, those that don't have a lot of experience, better at execution."

The Irish will take a disappointing 1-2 record into a Week 4 matchup with Duke.