SOUTH BEND — The last time Notre Dame football assistants Chris Ash and Joe Rudolph worked on the same coaching staff, Wisconsin went 22-5 and made back-to-back Rose Bowl appearances.
That was back in 2010-11, when Ash was coaching defensive backs for the Badgers and Rudolph handled the tight ends. Ash served as Wisconsin’s defensive coordinator for two seasons, 2011-12, before following coach Bret Bielema to Arkansas after winning a third straight Big Ten championship.
Rudolph, entering his third season as Notre Dame’s offensive line coach, was a Badgers assistant from 2008-11.
“Rudy and I worked together at Wisconsin,” Ash, hired Feb. 1 as Notre Dame’s defensive coordinator, said Wednesday at his introductory news conference. “I always had a ton of respect for the way he goes about his business and the type of person he is, and I knew he was here.”
While Rudolph was the only current Irish assistant who had worked with Ash before, the two didn’t reconnect until after Ash made what he termed “an easy choice” to return to the college game after four seasons in the NFL.
‘Ruthlessly competitive’: How Chris Ash worked his way from small-town Iowa to Notre Dame football
“I knew that (Rudolph) really enjoyed it here, enjoyed the people, enjoyed the area, the players, the way Coach (Marcus) Freeman runs the organization,” Ash said. “But I did not personally, in this process, have any conversations with him.”
Ash, 51, was already impressed enough with Notre Dame’s operation as the Irish recently completed a 14-2 season that ended with a loss to Ohio State in the CFP championship game.
“I was really excited that Coach Freeman called me, and they had trust and belief and faith that I could come here and lead the defense,” Ash said. “When I came here to campus … I could tell there was absolute…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/article/meant-notre-dame-football-hires-090310978.html
Author : South Bend Tribune
Publish date : 2025-02-27 09:03:00
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