New Notre Dame football defensive coordinator Chris Ash has been a member of the staff for the last few weeks, and this past week, he’s finally talking about his approach to a defense that was one of the best in the sport under his predecessor, Al Golden.
Speaking at his first press conference with the Fighting Irish, Ash made it clear that he understands the talent level he’s taking over. “I look at it as if it’s not broken, don’t fix it,” Ash told the assembled media. “That was really the conversation that Coach (Marcus) Freeman and I had about this situation. There has been really good football played here on defense. There have been standards and accountability. They’ve been well-coached. We’re just looking at ways we can try to enhance it and make it better.”
So is Ash going to try and adapt Golden’s defense now that he’s in charge of the Notre Dame football team’s unit? No. Instead, Ash thinks he can simplify things to make the defense that much better.
New Notre Dame football defensive coordinator adapting defense to talent level
“We want to play fast,” explained Ash. “We want to play violent. We want to be physical. We want to win at the point of attack. That’s all that it’s about. We want to play with energy and enthusiasm. We’re going to coach, teach and practice that way. Hopefully, we’ll play that way, too.”
”It’s all about the players,” Ash added. “It’s players first. Players over plays and concepts over calls. That’s really the way we’re approaching it right now and try to make sure what we do and what we ask the players to do is in the best interest of the player and it allows them to be successful.”
The Notre Dame football team has a number of veterans it can turn to in 2025. It appears Ash knows what it takes to keep the Irish at the top of their game. Now it’s time to see if he knows how to carry it out.