Chris Ash accepts Notre Dame DC job after Al Golden’s NFL departure

The Notre Dame football team made a deep run in the postseason this year as they made it all the way to the national championship, but they fell short to Ohio State. Whenever a team has a run like that, it’s normal for there to be some coaching departures as these coordinators are obviously doing something right to get their team into the national title game. The Fighting Irish lost defensive coordinator Al Golden to the NFL, and they are now hiring Chris Ash to be his replacement.

“Sources: Chris Ash has accepted the job as the Notre Dame’s new defensive coordinator,” Pete Thamel said in a post. “Ash brings a blend of coordinating experience, NFL experience and high-end results as a collegiate coordinator. A deal is expected to be finalized in the near future.”

Notre Dame had one of the best defenses in college football this year, and the phone was ringing for Al Golden when the season was over. The goal for most of these coaches in college is to make it to the pros, so it makes sense that Golden jumped at the opportunity to go coach for the Cincinnati Bengals.

Chris Ash was last a defensive coordinator at Texas during the 2020 season. He spent the 2024 season as a scout for the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Ash is bringing a ton of experience to this Notre Dame football team as he has spent time in college and the NFL, and he has worked in numerous positions. From head coach to scout, he has done it all.

Most of Ash’s career has been spent at the college level as he started things off as a graduate assistant at Drake back in 1997. He was in that role for only a year before being promoted to defensive coordinator. Since starting things off at Drake, Ash has worked with Iowa State, San Diego State, Wisconsin, Arkansas, Ohio State, Rutgers, Texas, the Jaguars and the Las Vegas Raiders.

Ash was the head coach of the Rutgers football team back from 2016-2019. The Scarlet Knights were not in a great spot when Ash took over, and he did not have a lot of success there as they finished 2-10, 4-8, 1-11 and then they were 1-3 in 2019 when Ash was let go.

For the most part, Chris Ash has worked as a defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach in his career. He is definitely a defensive mind and is bringing a ton of experience to the Notre Dame football team.