{"id":72103,"date":"2025-01-31T09:00:45","date_gmt":"2025-01-31T14:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/?p=72103"},"modified":"2025-09-20T14:14:02","modified_gmt":"2025-09-20T18:14:02","slug":"notre-dame-expected-to-hire-chris-ash-as-defensive-coordinator","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/2025\/01\/31\/notre-dame-expected-to-hire-chris-ash-as-defensive-coordinator\/","title":{"rendered":"Notre Dame Expected to Hire Chris Ash as Defensive Coordinator"},"content":{"rendered":"

According to reports, Notre Dame is expected to hire Chris Ash as its new defensive coordinator. The news comes just days after Al Golden left the program<\/a> to join the staff of the Cincinnati Bengals in the NFL. It has been speculated that Ash could share the coordinating responsibilities with Notre Dame\u2019s highly thought of current defensive backs coach Mike Mickens.<\/p>\n

Chris Ash: From the NFL to South Bend<\/h3>\n

A college safety himself at Drake, Ash brings extensive experience to Notre Dame. Head coach of Rutgers from 2016-19 (8-32 overall), Ash is an Iowa native. He won a national championship ring with Ohio State under Urban Meyer in the 2014 season. Ash served as safeties coach and co-defensive coordinator for the Buckeyes that season. Ohio State finished 19th<\/sup> in total defense that year and defeated Oregon 42-20 in the title game. The following season in Ash\u2019s second and last year with the Buckeyes, Ohio State finished ninth nationally in total defense and second in scoring defense.<\/p>\n

Ash\u2019s most recent job as a defensive coordinator was in 2020 with Texas. In recent years, Ash has worked with the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Las Vegas Raiders. He was Jacksonville\u2019s safeties coach in 2021 and coached the Raiders defensive backs in 2022 and 2023.<\/p>\n

Optimistic Outlook<\/h3>\n

Golden left the Notre Dame program better than he found it. The defensive mastermind spent three years at Notre Dame and deserves immense credit for his contributions to the defense. In that time, he developed the unit into one of the best in the nation. The Irish boasted one of the best defenses in the country in 2025. Notre Dame surrendered just 15.5 points per game and 4.8 yards per play. Just four teams, including Ohio State, allowed fewer points per game. Ohio State defeated Notre Dame in the CFP title game. The Irish defense was shorthanded in the national championship, missing key cornerstones such as Rylie Mills<\/a> and Benjamin Morrison<\/a>.<\/p>\n

At Notre Dame, Ash will inherit a solid returning core of defenders. Though Jack Kiser<\/a>, Xavier Watts<\/a>, Morrison, Mills, and Howard Cross III<\/a> will be gone, players like Jaylen Snee<\/a>d, Drayk Bowen<\/a>, Adon Shuler<\/a>, and Jaiden Ausberry<\/a> will be back.<\/p>\n

The addition of Ash, with his deep well of experience at the collegiate and professional level, signals a new chapter for Notre Dame football. His expertise is precisely what Marcus Freeman needs to further solidify the Irish defense as a national powerhouse. The hire is a clear indication of Notre Dame\u2019s commitment to fielding another stout defense in the coming season and beyond. It\u2019s a move that should have Irish enthusiasts feeling optimistic about the future.<\/p>\n

Main image: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

According to reports, Notre Dame is expected to hire Chris Ash as its new defensive coordinator. The news comes just days after Al Golden left the program to join the staff of the Cincinnati Bengals in the NFL. It has been speculated that Ash could share the coordinating responsibilities with Notre Dame\u2019s highly thought of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4854,"featured_media":60786,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10906,8,11,17,35676],"tags":[1512,5093,8486,259,455,231],"class_list":["post-72103","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cfb","category-fbs","category-independents","category-news","category-notre-dame-fighting-irish","tag-al-golden","tag-cincinnati-bengals","tag-mike-mickens","tag-notre-dame-fighting-irish","tag-rutgers-scarlet-knights","tag-urban-meyer"],"modified_by":"Michael Kovacs, ADMIN","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72103","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4854"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72103"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72103\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":72115,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72103\/revisions\/72115"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60786"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72103"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72103"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72103"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}