SOUTH BEND — Notre Dame football could be closing in on its new defensive coordinator.
Former Rutgers head coach Chris Ash reportedly has emerged as the focus of the search for Al Golden’s successor, according to Football Scoop and The Athletic. Ash, 51, spent this season as a scout for the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars and last served as a college coordinator in 2020 at Texas.
It’s possible the Irish would hire Ash in a co-coordinator role with highly regarded defensive backs coach Mike Mickens, who recently completed his fifth season at Notre Dame. Mickens, 37, has been the defensive pass-game coordinator for the nation’s leader in pass-efficiency defense the past two seasons.
Ohio State’s 2014 national championship came with Ash and Luke Fickell splitting defensive coordinator responsibilities. Coach Urban Meyer’s Buckeyes went 26-2 in two seasons with that arrangement, improving in scoring defense from 26th (22.0 points per game) to second (15.1 average) in 2014-15.
Fickell went on to coach at Cincinnati, hiring future Irish coach Marcus Freeman as defensive coordinator in 2017. Fickell is now head coach at Wisconsin, where Ash coached defensive backs on three straight Rose Bowl teams (2010-12) and ran the defense for two years.
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Irish offensive line coach Joe Rudolph worked with Ash in Madison for two seasons, coaching tight ends.
A native of Ottumwa, Iowa who attended Drake University, Ash followed former Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema to Arkansas as defensive coordinator in 2013, going 3-9 with the Razorbacks.
Like Golden, who returned last week to the NFL’s Cincinnati Bengals after three seasons running the Irish defense, Ash had to overcome a disappointing tenure at the helm of a college program. In three-plus seasons at Rutgers (2016-19), Ash’s teams went 8-32 and lost 26 of 29 games in the Big Ten Conference.
Fired after a 52-0 loss to Michigan in September 2019, Ash’s teams endured eight shutouts and 14 consecutive league losses. Rutgers’ non-league wins were over lesser lights Massachusetts, Texas State, Morgan State, Howard, and New Mexico.
Despite that, former Rutgers athletic director Pat Hobbs praised Ash’s “unbelievable efforts” upon his dismissal.
“Chris came in here, worked his tail off,” Hobbs said. “Does everything with integrity, does it the right way. He worked hard for these kids. I couldn’t be more appreciative of his efforts.”
Since Rutgers, Ash has been swept out amid the firings of Tom Herman at Texas, where the Longhorns went 7-3 but finished 108th in passing yards allowed; Meyer with the Jaguars, who went 3-14 with Ash coaching safeties in 2021; and Josh McDaniels with the Las Vegas Raiders, where Ash coached defensive backs for two seasons (2022-23), going 14-20.
Jaguars general manager Trent Baalke, Ash’s latest boss, was fired Jan. 22 after four seasons.
Mike Berardino covers Notre Dame football for the South Bend Tribune and NDInsider.com. Follow him on social media @MikeBerardino.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Reports: Notre Dame football targeting former Rutgers coach for defense
