Now that former North Carolina State head coach Dave Doeren is a free agent, Notre Dame is in a prime position to strike. No, obviously not as a head coach. Not even as a full-time assistant coach. Doeren likely wouldn’t even want to join the staff full time right now.
The Fighting Irish would be well served, however, if they talked to Doeren about joining the program as an analyst who could chip in with thoughts and ideas about a defense that could use some new ideas.
The idea isn’t out of left field. Doeren has worked with Notre Dame defensive coordinator before. In fact, he’s done it more than once. Given that the Irish had co-defensive coordinators not that long ago, it’s not like Ash would be totally against listening to Doeren’s ideas if they brought him on as a defensive analyst.
The two coaches’ relationship dates back to Drake in 1997, when Ash was a Graduate Assistant and Doeren was the defensive coordinator and linebackers coach. Ash then took over the defensive coordinator position when Doeren moved to USC.
Dave Doeren’s long history with Chris Ash makes him intriguing Notre Dame football analyst target
The two men reunited at Wisconsin in 2010 when Doeren was the defensive coordinator and linebackers coach, and Ash was the defensive backs coach. When Doeren left to become head coach at Northern Illinois in 2011, Ash was promoted again to replace him as defensive coordinator while remaining the defensive backs coach.
Doeren spent two years at Northern Illinois and then took the head coaching job with North Carolina State in 2013, where he coached until he was fired earlier this season. His time with the Wolfpack was a mixed bag. On the one hand, he made NC State consistently competitive. They missed making a bowl game just twice in 13 years. He compiled a respectable 98-73 record and won 9 games four times.
On the other hand, NC State never really jumped to the next level. Doeren never won 10 games in a season, and the program seemed to be treading water in the last few years, with 6-7 and 8-5 records in 2024 and 2025.
The writing was on the wall when Doeren’s squad opened the season with a 34-8 loss to Virginia. After a 38-14 loss to Wake Forest and then, most appalling, a 31-28 loss to a bad Stanford team, North Carolina State had enough.
While there’s a question as to just how good a head coach he was, his resume as a very good defensive coach isn’t in doubt. Now that he’s out of a job, he might like to join the Notre Dame staff as a part-time staffer who can work with Ash one more time and maybe even help win a national title.
At the very least, Notre Dame needs to kick the tires on Dave Doeren and see if he’s interested in offering some ideas. Marcus Freeman needs to try and do everything he can to take advantage of the shot he’s been given to win it all this year.
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