Source: Former Rutgers coach Chris Ash chosen as next Notre Dame football defensive coordinator
SOUTH BEND — One week after losing Broyles Award finalist Al Golden to the NFL, Notre Dame football has secured his successor as defensive coordinator.
Former Rutgers head coach Chris Ash has accepted the DC job with the Irish, a source confirmed Wednesday. Citing sources, ESPN said a deal is “expected to be finalized in the near future.”
Despite defensive backs coach Mike Mickens being passed over, two sources with direct knowledge said the highly regarded assistant was expected to remain at Notre Dame. With Mickens, 37, as defensive pass-game coordinator, the Irish led the nation in defensive pass efficiency the past two seasons.
Ash, 51, spent the 2024 season as a scout for the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars and last served as a college coordinator in 2020 at Texas. The Longhorns went 7-3 but finished 108th in passing yards allowed and 61st in scoring defense (28.5 points per game) as coach Tom Herman was fired after the season.
Co-defensive coordinator with Luke Fickell for Ohio State’s 2014 national champions, Ash helped coach Urban Meyer’s Buckeyes go 26-2 in 2014-15. Ash reunited with Meyer in Jacksonville, where the NFL’s Jaguars went 3-14 with Ash coaching safeties in 2021.
Ash then spent two seasons as defensive backs coach with the Las Vegas Raiders, going 14-20 in 2022-23 under coaches Josh McDaniels, who was fired, and Antonio Pierce, who lasted one more season.
Irish offensive line coach Joe Rudolph worked with Ash for two seasons at Wisconsin, coaching tight ends while Ash coached defensive backs on three straight Rose Bowl teams (2010-12) and coordinated the defense for two years.
A native of Ottumwa, Iowa who attended Drake University, Ash followed former Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema to Arkansas as defensive coordinator in 2013, going 3-9 with the Razorbacks.
In three-plus seasons at Rutgers (2016-19), Ash’s teams went 8-32 and lost 26 of 29 games in the Big Ten Conference.
Golden, 55, returned to the Cincinnati Bengals as defensive coordinator on Jan. 22, two days after coaching in the CFP national title game with Notre Dame. The Irish tied for fourth with Army in scoring defense in 2024, allowing 15.5 points per game.
Golden’s three immediate predecessors at Notre Dame — Marcus Freeman (Notre Dame), Clark Lea (Vanderbilt) and Mike Elko (Texas A&M) — now run their own Power Four programs.
