By Mark Pszonak
Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman has quickly proven himself to be one of the brightest young minds in the country. However, news that came out last night regarding a possible hire on the defensive side of the ball may change my opinion of him quickly.
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Coach Freeman needs to do better than Chris Ash. Notre Dame is an elite coaching opportunity for any candidate, so the answer to help fill former defensive coordinator Al Golden’s job should never be Chris Ash.
Ash had his moment in the sun with Ohio State, where he was the co-defensive coordinator and secondary coach with the Buckeyes for two seasons. He managed to translate that into being named Rutgers’ head coach in December, 2015.
A quick lesson is needed on Rutgers football for this to make sense. The program was a national joke until Greg Schiano showed up prior to the 2001 season. While it took him some time, he performed a miracle and turned the Scarlet Knights into an annual winner with six bowls in seven seasons. After his move to the NFL, Kyle Flood managed to maintain that level of success for a bit, before getting fired in 2015 after a 4-8 season. That is when Ash came into the picture.
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During his tenure in Piscataway, he took what Schiano miraculously accomplished and quickly gutted it. In a little more than three seasons he compiled an 8-32 record, with an even more embarrassing 3-26 record in the Big Ten. Schiano was then rehired and has gradually brought the program back to life.
Since getting fired by Rutgers four games into the 2019 season, Ash has bounced around from Texas to Las Vegas and Jacksonville in the NFL. Most recently he was a scout with the Jaguars during the 2024 season. And now, somehow, he may find his way to Notre Dame to help lead a defensive unit that just played in the National Championship game.
An argument can be made that maybe Ash just isn’t fit to be a head coach and can succeed as an assistant. It is possible, but we aren’t talking about just any assistant job here.
Freeman and Ash share the same agent, so this may just be a tactic to get his name back into the spotlight. But if there is actual serious interest from Notre Dame, then Freeman will end up spending substantial time attempting to explain his thought process. Go in a different direction, Coach Freeman.
