The Notre Dame football program has reportedly hired Chris Ash as its new defensive coordinator. If you’re not among those that is all that excited about the news, you’re not alone.
Ash comes in to replace Al Golden, who left right after the National Title game for the Cincinnati Bengals and that alone, was going to make it hard to to be a very impressive hire. Golden ran a defense that was among the best in the sport the last two seasons. But it’s more than just stepping into big shoes to fill. There’s also the fact that Ash simply hasn’t had all that impressive a run as a DC when he’s taken that job.
Notre Dame football’s newest hire is someone that is respected around the sport, that’s for certain. He’s been a defensive coordinator at four different schools as well as a head coach for three years with the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. The problem continues to be that it’s been a long time since he put together a season that would really making Fighting Irish fans stand up and celebrate.
Notre Dame football defensive coordinator leaves something to be desired
Among his most notable stops as a DC was 2013 with Arkansas, where his unit finished 76th in total defense in the country. Perhaps that’s why he lasted just one season with the SEC squad. He was then co-defensive coordinator with Ohio State from 2014 to 2015.
There his defense was ranked 19th and 9th respecitvely. That performance got him a job as the head man at Rutgers, where he compiled a record of 8-32 (including a 3-26 mark in the Big Ten) from 2016 to 2019 before being fired.
In 2020, he was the defensive coordinator for Texas where they ranked 64th in the country in total defense.
If there is a bit of good news with the underwhelming hire, it’s that it appears he’ll once again be co-defensive coordinator with Mike Mickens. That allows for the Irish to keep one of their most up-and-coming defensive coaches on board while putting Chris Ash in the best spot to succeed.
Should the hire become official, it will mark interesting times for a Notre Dame football program whose identity was dominated by its defense the last two years.