SOUTH BEND — When Notre Dame football secured the services of Chris Ash at the start of February, it meant the addition of a rare commodity at the college level: a proven national championship defensive coordinator.
Ohio State’s 2014 College Football Playoff national title came in the first of Ash’s two seasons in Columbus as the co-DC along with Luke Fickell, who went on to lead programs at Cincinnati and Wisconsin.
“I remember just being extremely happy for Chris after that Ohio State national championship,” Rob Ash (no relation) said of his former Drake University player and assistant. “He was the guy. He was the DC, and they won it all. That was a huge moment.”
The Buckeyes’ 2024 bookend title, which came at Notre Dame’s expense in the first 12-team CFP, resulted in a record-setting contract for defensive coordinator Jim Knowles, who jumped to Big Ten-rival Penn State.
Besides Ash, 51, and Knowles, 59, just three other FBS defensive coordinators with a national title on their résumés over the past 20 seasons will serve in that role in 2025.
The others are Georgia’s Glenn Schumann (2021-22 Bulldogs), Ole Miss DC Pete Golding, who was co-DC at Alabama in 2020; and Oregon DC Tosh Lupoi, who was co-DC on Alabama’s 2017 champions.
Ash’s three-plus seasons as Rutgers head coach (2016-19) ended in frustration, but he regrouped and ran the Texas defense in 2020 before spending the past four seasons in a variety of roles with the NFL’s Raiders and Jaguars.
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Of the remaining 16 defensive coordinators or co-DCs from the past 20 FBS national champions, their 2025 employment breaks down as follows:
NFL assistants (3)
Jesse Minter, after helping Michigan win the 2023 CFP title, followed Wolverines coach Jim…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/article/notre-dame-football-dc-chris-090510584.html
Author : South Bend Tribune
Publish date : 2025-02-24 09:05:00
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