Chris "Belt To" Ash - Defensive Coordinator

[The Backer]

I'm going to believe that Freeman is running the new version of the Saban "Coaching Rehabilitation Center For Coaches Who Can't Coach Good" until proven otherwise. Certainly seems like Freeman's profile for coordinator has a foundational requirement of "scheme/X&O Knower" and plans to backfill "people/leadership skills."

 

[Irish#1]

Can't imagine it being a ton, he's a few years removed from actual coaching, NFL scouts don't make a killing and I don't think they had much competition if any for him.

Saw something that scouts make $80K (rookies) - $400K .

 

[Dizzyphil]

This thread delivers the lol's. That's all I got to say 'bout that.

Exactly!!!!

 

[pumpdog20]

I think Freeman saw how the corners production dropped this year with Mickens running the entire secondary and special teams production dropped with Biagi helping with safeties so he went and got Ash to help with safeties and to give Mickens more time to learn DC

Huh? Our corners were awesome.

 

[Jdogg2020]

Huh? Our corners were awesome.

BenMo took a step back this year and Gray lost confidence as the season went on

 

[MacIrish75]

BenMo took a step back this year and Gray lost confidence as the season went on

 

[Newc]

BenMo was playing hurt this year and Gray was trusted to play on an island a lot. Our corners were excellent this year.

 

[irishnd31]

BenMo took a step back this year and Gray lost confidence as the season went on

Gray made a play that got us in position to kick a game winning field goal in the Orange Bowl. Seemed pretty fuckin confident to me.

 

[stlnd01]

BenMo took a step back this year and Gray lost confidence as the season went on

Yeah he looked real shook against Penn State at the end there.

 

[mrmcgrail]

Guys get in their head that a guy like benmo shouldn't give up any catches and that is just unrealistic I'm pretty sure the QB rating thrown at him was lower this year than last

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

I still think if there were any red flags about Ash, Fickell tells Freeman about it. Fickell stepped in as interim HC when Tressel went down in flames. They hired Meyer and while keeping Fickell on, Meyer was often said to have been pretty nasty toward Fickell. To the point that Vrabel allegedly went after Meyer and had to be restrained physically. Fickell was in a tough spot at the time and did Ohio State a solid in light of the Tressel scandal. For as much as Meyer is an Ohio guy and proclaims a love for Ohio State, Fickell is too and he not only played there but served as an assistant under both Tressel and Meyer. He held shit together for that program during a pretty bad time while having working with some questionable personalities.

So Fickell's time at Ohio State under Meyer might not have been the best, and being one of Freeman's best friends, I'm going to assume Fickell would have told Freeman to steer clear of this guy if he was toxic to the point that he should not be hired. I'm likely convincing myself of this, but I promise you, you don't want to vouch for the wrong guy in any profession. Especially if your best friend is the one asking you.

 

[forkbeard3777]

I still think if there were any red flags about Ash, Fickell tells Freeman about it. Fickell stepped in as interim HC when Tressel went down in flames. They hired Meyer and while keeping Fickell on, Meyer was often said to have been pretty nasty toward Fickell. To the point that Vrabel allegedly went after Meyer and had to be restrained physically. Fickell was in a tough spot at the time and did Ohio State a solid in light of the Tressel scandal. For as much as Meyer is an Ohio guy and proclaims a love for Ohio State, Fickell is too and he not only played there but served as an assistant under both Tressel and Meyer. He held shit together for that program during a pretty bad time while having working with some questionable personalities.

So Fickell's time at Ohio State under Meyer might not have been the best, and being one of Freeman's best friends, I'm going to assume Fickell would have told Freeman to steer clear of this guy if he was toxic to the point that he should not be hired. I'm likely convincing myself of this, but I promise you, you don't want to vouch for the wrong guy in any profession. Especially if your best friend is the one asking you.

I never knew any of that regarding Meyer and Fickell. Why the hell was Meyer so hard on him? All things considered, Fickell seems to be a very good coach.

 

[Free Manera]

I never knew any of that regarding Meyer and Fickell. Why the hell was Meyer so hard on him? All things considered, Fickell seems to be a very good coach.

 

[Bane]

Basically this. Meyer is an elite coach, probably the second best of the era behind only Saban, but he was a notoriously demanding and hardass boss, especially if he didn't like you.

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

I never knew any of that regarding Meyer and Fickell. Why the hell was Meyer so hard on him? All things considered, Fickell seems to be a very good coach.

First and foremost, we can safely assume that Meyer was and is an asshole.

By all accounts, Fickell is a good guy. I liked him as a player and always respected him as a coach and recruiter. Never heard a bad word.

Meyer kept Fickell on as DC likely because Fickell is beloved among Buckeye fans. Former player, assistant coach, Tressel's DC, interim HC. He obviously wasn't Meyer's guy, but he was an Ohio State Buckeye through and through. I think it was good PR and Fickell was conduit for the players that Meyer was inheriting from the Tressel Era.

The story is prior to the Big Ten Championship Game vs Michigan State, Ohio State had just given up 603 yards and 41 points to a bad Michigan offense and escaped with a one-point victory. The week after, the strength coach Mickey Mariotti who was Meyer's guy going back to Bowling Green was giving Fickell shit about not getting his guys ready and all that kind of stuff. It was somewhat tame. Then Meyer joins in and it isn't so tame. So Vrabel hears this and enters the room, goes off. Says they're being unfair to Fickell and singling him out. Mind you, Fick and Vrabel played together at tOSU under Cooper.

A shouting match starts among the three and Vrabel ends up grabbing Meyer by the shirt (another version is he backed him up and pinned him against the wall). I can't even imagine what Fickell must have been thinking at the time.

At this point, they decided Vrabel needed to go elsewhere but they were going to keep it quiet and make it look like a mutual split of no consequence. Basically just coaching carousel business as usual. Vrabel winds up with the Houston Texans.

 

[Katzenboyer]

First and foremost, we can safely assume that Meyer was and is an asshole.

By all accounts, Fickell is a good guy. I liked him as a player and always respected him as a coach and recruiter. Never heard a bad word.

Meyer kept Fickell on as DC likely because Fickell is beloved among Buckeye fans. Former player, assistant coach, Tressel's DC, interim HC. He obviously wasn't Meyer's guy, but he was an Ohio State Buckeye through and through. I think it was good PR and Fickell was conduit for the players that Meyer was inheriting from the Tressel Era.

The story is prior to the Big Ten Championship Game vs Michigan State, Ohio State had just given up 603 yards and 41 points to a bad Michigan offense and escaped with a one-point victory. The week after, the strength coach Mickey Mariotti who was Meyer's guy going back to Bowling Green was giving Fickell shit about not getting his guys ready and all that kind of stuff. It was somewhat tame. Then Meyer joins in and it isn't so tame. So Vrabel hears this and enters the room, goes off. Says they're being unfair to Fickell and singling him out. Mind you, Fick and Vrabel played together at tOSU under Cooper.

A shouting match starts among the three and Vrabel ends up grabbing Meyer by the shirt (another version is he backed him up and pinned him against the wall). I can't even imagine what Fickell must have been thinking at the time.

At this point, they decided Vrabel needed to go elsewhere but they were going to keep it quiet and make it look like a mutual split of no consequence. Basically just coaching carousel business as usual. Vrabel winds up with the Houston Texans.

If I made a list of the people in this world I would least like to piss off, Mike Vrabel probably makes the Top 5.

If this is true, Meyer's life most likely flashed before his eyes. Good heavens.

 

[Dale]

I know it was joked about but there are non zero odds Fickell is a DC here at some point. Which is kind of wild considering time constraints may have been a primary factor why he’s not HC currently

 

[zelezo vlk]

I know it was joked about but there are non zero odds Fickell is a DC here at some point. Which is kind of wild considering time constraints may have been a primary factor why he’s not HC currently

I was just wondering if we were only 1 season away from Fickell being the obvious choice at DC

 

[Bane]

Huh? Our corners were awesome.

Yeah, but once they start playing DT and WR they'll need the extra coaching.

 

[IrishLion]

I still think if there were any red flags about Ash, Fickell tells Freeman about it. Fickell stepped in as interim HC when Tressel went down in flames. They hired Meyer and while keeping Fickell on, Meyer was often said to have been pretty nasty toward Fickell. To the point that Vrabel allegedly went after Meyer and had to be restrained physically. Fickell was in a tough spot at the time and did Ohio State a solid in light of the Tressel scandal. For as much as Meyer is an Ohio guy and proclaims a love for Ohio State, Fickell is too and he not only played there but served as an assistant under both Tressel and Meyer. He held shit together for that program during a pretty bad time while having working with some questionable personalities.

So Fickell's time at Ohio State under Meyer might not have been the best, and being one of Freeman's best friends, I'm going to assume Fickell would have told Freeman to steer clear of this guy if he was toxic to the point that he should not be hired. I'm likely convincing myself of this, but I promise you, you don't want to vouch for the wrong guy in any profession. Especially if your best friend is the one asking you.

Fickell literally had Freeman and his family move into the Fickell house while they were in Cincy together.

If there’s a dude you’re gonna be 100% honest with, it’s the guy that lived under your roof with his entire family while coordinating your defense and securing your best recruits.

 

[greyhammer90]

Any details on contracts yet? Going to be fascinating to see how it's structured if everyone is thinking this is meant to be a "bridge" hire for Mickens.

 

[T-Boone]

I think MF panics under pressure. This is like the Parker appointment.

 

[NDRock]

I think MF panics under pressure. This is like the Parker appointment.

Agree. I remember when we were down 10-0 in the Orange bowl and couldn’t get anything going on either side of the ball. Freeman seemed to crawl up in a ball.

 

[Giddyup]

Hire Saban as defensive analyst in case ash sucks

 

[Sunshine]

Probably not what fans hoped for and I doubt we'll be as well coached as with Golden, but I have a hard time seeing the defense fall off that much in the near-term. Too much talent, especially at corner and linebacker, and infrastructure in place for that to happen.

With how good the run game should be with Love/Price and the OL and their ability to stay on the field and run out the clock, this is a great spot for any incoming DC.

Good luck Coach.

 

[tko]

Ass until proven otherwise.

 

[T-Boone]

Agree. I remember when we were down 10-0 in the Orange bowl and couldn’t get anything going on either side of the ball. Freeman seemed to crawl up in a ball.

I had that coming

 

[Old Man Mike]

Regardless of the coaching quality, the defense will/should be very good at defensive backs and linebackers BUT (and hopefully someone can apprise me differently) I see no real obvious solution to the thin defensive line situation. How will we survive that at highest competition levels?

 

[Hautian Domer]

I wouldn't wish him on my worst enemy.

No executive ability. Every facet of the program hit rock-bottom with him in charge.

May be a good position coach. Anything requiring executive leadership (like a a DC role) is far beyond the abilities he showed on the banks of the ol' Raritan.

Has he grown since then? Maybe. But he didn't show a capacity for growth in Piscataway, and I personally think he's poison.

He threw everyone else under the bus whenever something went wrong. And his outward recruiting philosophy was “if they’re good enough they’re not coming to Rutgers, if they want to come to Rutgers and they’re from NJ they’re not good enough”. He refused to recruit Kenny Pickett even though Pickett legit begged him, called him on the phone, showed up to games, showed up to practices, showed up to his office and beg him to when he took over. One of the kids I coached I reached out to him at an event and said hey he’s looking to stay home and he told him “look I don’t want my time wasted just like I’m sure he feels the same”

THE NJSIAA STATE CHAMPIONSHIP FOOTBALL GAMES ARE HELD AT THE STADIUM AND HE REFUSED TO GO TO THEM!!!

In a program with a lot of bad years, there was no one worse at head coach. He made every bit of the program fail, from recruiting to game planning.

It feels to me that he’s skipping a step on his reclamation tour. He should be getting a MAC team its first conference championship, not leading a defensive unit with pro talent and national aspirations.

Terrible terrible HC. Had absolutely no grasp on the program, the school, the state, anything. The dude was honestly terrible at his job. He alienated every HS coach in the state, he alienated the alumni, fan base and former players. He may be a good guy or a good coordinator, but he was horrible as a HC and for the program.

Golden was a boy genius DC who resurrected a dead Temple program before getting screwed over by Miami's NCAA sanctions and then went to the NFL where he was part of a Bengals team that made the Super Bowl.

Ash, on the other hand, has never really put together an elite, or even really above average, for talent level defense, made Rutgers a laughingstock, then spent the last half decade bouncing from failed job to failed job.

I see he’s still thought of fondly in New Brunswick

 

[FDNYIrish1]

That looks no worse than a first quarter gameday thread if we don’t run play action.