Announcement: Notre Dame to Appoint Chris Ash as New Defensive Coordinator
In less than a week after their defensive coordinator departed for the NFL, Notre Dame is poised to attract Chris Ash from the NFL to take on the role of new DC in South Bend, Ind., according to a report by ESPN on Wednesday.
At 51 years old, Ash has been in the NFL since the 2021 season and served as a scout for Jacksonville in 2024. He will be replacing Al Golden, who left ND last week to become the new defensive coordinator for the Cincinnati Bengals.
Prior to his time in the NFL, Ash was the head coach at Rutgers from 2016-19, where he had a record of 8-32 and was fired after a 1-3 start to the 2019 season. He also has experience as a defensive coordinator at Wisconsin, Arkansas, and Ohio State, where he was co-coordinator with Luke Fickell on the Buckeyes' 2014 College Football Playoff championship team.
In the NFL, Ash coached safeties for the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2021 before moving on to the Las Vegas Raiders to coach defensive backs in 2022 and 2023.
Ash also spent time at the University of Texas, serving as the DC and safeties coach under Tom Herman in 2019 and 2020.
Under Golden's leadership in 2024, the Notre Dame defense ranked fifth in the nation in points allowed per game (15.5) and made it to the CFP championship game, where they ultimately lost to Ohio State.
