Notre Dame football reportedly has hired their new defensive coordinator in Chris Ash.
Ash is set to replace Al Golden, who returned to the Cincinnati Bengals as their new defensive coordinator. Golden helped build a culture and a setting for this Irish defense and elevated this Notre Dame football program to the elite level.
Ash will have big shoes to fill, and Irish faithful aren’t jumping for joy with this current hire. However, Ash does have elite experience and impressive accolades that Irish fans must turn to and not overlook. Ash has a ring back in 2014 with Ohio State in the first CFP and helped earn respect as a recruiter.
So, Irish fans let’s take a deep dive into Chris Ash career and look at the 3 glaring stats that show Notre Dame football defense will elevate and rise to glory under Chris Ash.
Chris Ash has been a defensive coordinator for five seasons, and of those five seasons he has led four of those defenses to be ranked in the top 25 overall defenses, including a top 10 defense in 2015 with Ohio State. He was the DC at Wisconsin in 2011 and 2012 and led the group to be ranked in the top 15 in back-to-back years.
Ash spent three seasons with Wisconsin, and in 2011 his defense led the Big Ten conference play in total yards allowed and passing efficiency. They also ranked fourth nationally in fewest passing yards allowed, as they gave up just 163.6 yards per game, and ranked 15th in total yards allowed with 316.4 yards per game.
In 2012, Wisconsin defense ranked 15th nationally in total yards per game as they gave up just 322.5 yards per game, and was ranked 18th in fewest passing yards per game at 193.6. The Ash led defense also finished 22nd in pass efficiency and 24th defending the run, giving up 128.9 yards per game.
In 2015, the Ohio State defense ranked ninth best in total yards given up per game. Ohio State finished the season with a 12-1 record after defeating Notre Dame in the bowl game.
Ash was hired by Ohio State head coach, Urban Meyer, in 2014 and improved Meyer’s defense from being ranked 112th in pass defense and 47th in total yards in 2013 to being ranked 19th nationally in total yards per game and 29th in passing yards per game. Ash also helped coach OSU to be ranked fourth in the country with 24 interceptions as they secured the Big Ten Championship, Sugar Bowl and national championships.
Ash helped improve Arkansas’ pass defense in his one season in Fayetteville, as Arkansas defense was ranked 113th in 2012, and after Ash arrived they finished 72nd nationally in passing yards.
Chris Ash led multiple defensive groups to be ranked top 20 in points against as he was defensive coordinator. When he was at Wisconsin, 2011 and 2012 both finished in top 20 scoring defenses and was elite.
His Wisconsin defense was nothing but stout and elite as they gave up 19 points per game in 2011, which ranked 13th, and 19.1 points per game the following year and ranked 17th.
His best defensive group came by no surprise but with Ohio State in 2015, when his group was ranked second in the country, where they allowed the second least amount of points per game at 15 points per game.
Chris Ash and Mike Mickens will be a interesting fit with Marcus Freeman, and while at first glance Ash numbers recently don’t track any attention, his number strictly under DC for Ohio State and Wisconsin are worth to look at.
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