Notre Dame On The Verge Of Hiring Former Big Ten Head Coach
Today at 08:36 PM
It took only a couple of days for the Notre Dame college football team to lose several of their most important pieces to this year's successful season. But few losses loom larger than defensive coordinator Al Golden leaving for the NFL.
Golden was announced as the new defensive coordinator of the Cincinnati Bengals mere hours after Notre Dame's loss to Ohio State in the national title game. Given that most of the biggest coaching names already have jobs for next season, that left Notre Dame scrambling to find a replacement.
But by the looks of things, the Fighting Irish have found their man - and it happens to be someone intimately familiar with both the Buckeyes and the Big Ten Conference.
According to Pete Sampson of The Athletic, former Rutgers head coach Chris Ash is "a strong candidate" to become the next Notre Dame defensive coordinator. Ash served as Ohio State's co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach from 2014 to 2015, winning a national title 10 years ago, and spending four seasons as head coach of Rutgers from 2016 to 2019.
"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," Sampson wrote on X.
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.
— Pete Sampson (@PeteSampson_) January 27, 2025
After being fired by Rutgers in the middle of the 2019 college football season, he joined the Texas Longhorns as an analyst for the remainder of the year and was promoted to defensive coordinator & safeties coach the following season.
In 2021, Ash joined his former boss Urban Meyer in going to the Jacksonville Jaguars for Meyer's ill-fated run as the team's head coach. He was let go along with the rest of Meyer's staff after the team's 3-14 campaign.
Ash then moved to Las Vegas to join the Raiders, working there for two season.
He was out of work in 2024.
Judging by the replies, Notre Dame fans are at best indifferent and at worst outraged by the idea of his hire.
The move hasn't been made official yet, but if it does, optimism may not be as high for the 2025 season.
Related: Notre Dame Loses DC Al Golden After National Championship Game
