Notre Dame Hires Former Big Ten Coach After National Title Loss

Ash has a long history of coaching in college football and in the NFL. He got his start as a graduate assistant at Drake in 1997 before running the program's defense from 1998-99. 

From there, he was a graduate assistant at Iowa State from 2000-01 before being promoted to defensive backs coach from 2002-06. He also added the title of recruiting coordinator before taking the same roles with San Diego State from 2007-08. 

He later ran Wisconsin's defense as the defensive coordinator from 2011-12 and was the co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach at Ohio State from 2014-15. 

Ash was the head coach at Rutgers from 2016-19, compiling an 8-32 record. He was fired four games in the 2019 season since his tenure wasn't going well. 

He ran Texas' defense during the 2020 season and was recently a scout for the Jacksonville Jaguars during the 2024 season. Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman hopes that his experience as a coordinator will pay dividends for the 2025 season.

The Fighting Irish are coming off a loss to the Ohio State Buckeyes in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game and want their defense to be great again next fall. 

Freeman has done a great job with the Irish since taking over as head coach at the end of the 2021 season, compiling a 33-10 record. He's been a perfect fit since Brian Kelly left for LSU. 

The Irish will open the 2025 season on Sunday, August 31, against the Miami Hurricanes at Hard Rock Stadium.