Notre Dame has hired a new defensive coordinator in the wake of Al Golden’s departure.
Chris Ash on Wednesday agreed to a deal to become the defensive coordinator at Notre Dame, ESPN’s Pete Thamel reports.
Ash, 51, was a scout with the Jacksonville Jaguars this season. 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.
