Following the departure of Al Golden, Marcus Freeman has hired Chris Ash to be the next Notre Dame defensive coordinator going into the 2025 season.
Art by The Irish Tribune
Chris Ash comes to the Notre Dame football program with a ton of coaching experience at both the college and professional levels. Most recently, Ash served as the defensive backs coach for the Las Vegas Raiders and the safeties coach for the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Ash's coaching career started in 1997 with many college jobs, including defensive assistant coaching positions at Drake, Princeton, Iowa State, San Diego State, and Wisconsin. In 2012, Ash left Wisconsin to become the defensive coordinator for head coach Bret Bielema at Arkansas. He then took a job at Ohio State, where he served as the co-DC and secondary coach for just one season before becoming the head coach at Rutgers. His time as head coach did not last long, as he was fired at Rutgers after just four years. After that, he returned to the defensive side of the ball at Texas, serving as the defensive coordinator for one season in 2020, before making his move to the NFL.
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This hire marks another time that Freeman has favored experience, as Ash provides a similar coaching background as Mike Denbrock and Al Golden. This experience will be important for both the defense and its players.
For the outlook on Notre Dame's defensive staff, Ash brings in a ton of experience, something that won't be lost in this replacement. This experience will continue to allow up-and-coming coaches like Al Washington and Mike Mickens time and room to grow. He is also now a resource for these younger coaches to learn more as they progress into better coaches. For the players, he brings in a new voice and new perspective on the defense, which can be a useful sense of freshness. All of this, combined with a very talented group returning, positions Notre Dame in a spot to continue competing for National Championships in the future.
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