Notre Dame football has wasted little time attempting to fill its defensive coordinator vacancy after losing Al Golden to the NFL. The Irish are eyeing former Rutgers Scarlet Knights head coach Chris Ash to join head coach Marcus Freeman’s staff as the program attempts to build off its College Football Playoff runner-up finish this season, per The Athletic’s Pete Sampson
Sampson states, “Multiple sources tell The Athletic that former Rutgers head coach Chris Ash has emerged as a strong candidate to be Notre Dame’s next defensive coordinator. Ash is also a former defensive coordinator at Ohio State.”
There are similarities between Ash and Golden, as Sampson points out. Sampson posted, “Head coaching experience that didn’t work out (like Golden). NFL assistant coach after falling off the radar (like Golden). Not the *hot name* at time of hire (like Golden).”
Ash is most well known for his tenure as Rutgers head coach from 2016-19 after a solid two-year run as Ohio State co-defensive coordinator. Ash’s time in Piscataway was an unmitigated disaster, with the Scarlet Knights going 8-33 over Ash’s three-plus seasons. Rutgers fired Ash early in the 2019 season following a 52-0 loss to Michigan that marked his program’s 14th consecutive Big Ten loss.
From there, Ash has bounced around with stops at Texas (defensive analyst/defensive coordinator, 2019-20), the Jacksonville Jaguars (safeties coach, 2021), and the Las Vegas Raiders (defensive backs coach, 2022-23).