Notre Dame has been left with a big void on their coaching staff after defensive coordinator Al Golden took an NFL job, but it appears the Fighting Irish have zeroed in on a replacement.
Chris Ash has emerged as a top candidate to become the next defensive coordinator at Notre Dame, Pete Sampson of The Athletic reported on Sunday.
Ash, 51, is currently a scout with the Jacksonville Jaguars. He was a defensive backs coach with the Las Vegas Raiders prior to that and also spent a season as Jacksonville’s safeties coach.
The majority of Ash’s coaching experience is at the collegiate level, however. He was the head coach at Rutgers from 2016-2019. Ash has also been a defensive coordinator for several college programs, most notably Ohio State. Ash was co-defensive coordinator at Ohio State in 2014 and 2015, and he could wind up with a similar arrangement in South Bend.
According to John Brice of FootballScoop, Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman may want Ash to serve as co-defensive coordinator with Irish defensive back’s coach Mike Mickens, who is the longest-tenured member of the team’s coaching staff.
Notre Dame’s defense allowed just 15.5 points per game, which ranked 5th out of 134 during the 2024 college season. The team ranked 7th out of 134 in points allowed in 2023.
Golden recently took a job as a defensive coordinator of an NFL team.
