Chris "Belt To" Ash - Defensive Coordinator

[NCIrish24]

View attachment 3060064

Is this poster connected?

 

[Bane]

That entire post rings Untrue.

I don't know, maybe some of it, sure. But, Ash was a notorious asshole before if I'm remembering correctly. It wouldn't surprise me.

 

[stlnd01]

II don't know, maybe some of it, sure. But, Ash was a notorious asshole before if I'm remembering correctly. It wouldn't surprise me.

It's also a weird dynamic where you have a DC who was brought in on top of a collection of assistants who've been here and who have been pretty successful. I can see why they might not all be on the same page. And f you're going to do that, you have to get the right fit, personality-wise.

 

[rtrn2glory]

Is this poster connected?

IDK if he is or not but it's hard to argue with any of that because it sure looks like that's exactly what I've seen the last few weeks

 

[allenm5333]

What podcast? That Hit and Hustle?

Regular isd. Didn’t post but listened to on YouTube this morning

 

[FWIrish4]

Jamie went fuckin innnn

Flat out said the 1H defense was the worst defense he’s seen played since 2016

 

[FDNYIrish1]

Hopefully some G5 program is looking for a reclamation project HC this offseason

 

[FU BK]

I figured it out....our defense blows goats cause Ass is double dipping as the Bears defensive coordinator too. Holy fuck they're both terrible

 

[InKellyWeTrust]

Here is why we are perpetually tortured as Irish fans...this year's CJ Carr as QB last year = national championship (with all due respect to RL)...Al Golden as DC this year instead of this clown = 2-0 with likely dominant wins and #1 ranked odds on favorite to win a championship.

 

[BrianWalsh]

Change the name of the opening post to Chris Ass - Defective Coordinator

 

[IrishLax]

Lax I respect you but knock it off. Either spell it out or don’t respond.

If you are legitimately asking what to do to protect your CB #3 from getting picked on, there are a number of options:

1. Let's start with what Ash ostensibly likes to do with zone + match principles. With this, you should be able to set Hobbs up to play with inside leverage and help over the top quite frequently. This should prevent plays like the big gainer to Craver on the last drive. There is no scenario where you should be asking Hobbs to cover 1v1 with that much green grass to the inside. And in general, if you play closer up to the line of scrimmage and pass off vertical routes (like slot fades, etc.) to a safety you are very unlikely to give up big plays. This is holistically where I think we are failing... guys are playing with the wrong leverage or being asked to cover in ways that are not set up for success.

2A. If we are saying he isn't covering out of the slot, and ignoring scheme and way oversimplifying things, then you can just bracket the mismatch and trust your other guys.
2B. You can also play matchups if you have coached your guys on how to do that and play multiple DB positions. There is no rule that you can't just have your best corner follow their best WR and that's what many teams have done in both CFB and the NFL.

3. There are tons of ways to be exotic. You can use a robber underneath routes if you want to have him play off. You can roll coverages, you can blitz from the nickel, etc. etc. All of this is situational.

 

[IrishLax]

 

[Irishdawg]

Damn, WOOF is right! 🤮.

 

[Free Manera]

Is this poster connected?

Yes. But he isn’t infallible. It seems like his sources are players based on him getting the Minchey/Carr battle wrong.

 

[NDPhilly]

Obviously we know it’s been bad, but these aren’t opponent adjusted stats. Miami and A&M were Phil Steele’s #4 and #6 projected OLs this year.

 

[IrishLax]

Damn, WOOF is right! 🤮.

These stats are so crazy they seem fake.

 

[IRISHDODGER]

Look at the bright side, in 2016 it wasn’t until game four that ND got their 1st sack. They had one sack vs Miami in the opener.

 

[pumpdog20]

I'm guessing Marcus had to hire someone like Ash, because no one else was going to agree with taking the DC job and not be able to hire anyone. If Marcus wanted to keep the entire core of defensive coaches, he should have just promoted one of them.

I'm guessing there's a lot of push back from position coaches on what Ash wants to do, the players see it and now any time a big play happens they think its scheme that asshole outsider is trying to do.

On the other hand, last night might have been the first time Freeman has subtly called out the players. He mentioned the defense not being good enough because of execution. He better tread carefully and get this righted quickly or this team is going to turn on him.

 

[IrishLax]

Yes. But he isn’t infallible. It seems like his sources are players based on him getting the Minchey/Carr battle wrong.

I believe that post to be like 45% true. And yes, post-spring the word straight from players mouths was that they didn't like / didn't understand the purpose behind the scheme changes. Also, being a DC is a LOT more than just Xs and Os. Everything from tackling to how stuff is drilled/taught is supposed to flow through you. Position coaches do not operate in vacuum.

You also cannot "unring the bell" and fire someone two games into the season. That's not realistic. So Freeman is in quite a pickle and I dunno what he opts to do here, but the sad part of all this is that we're probably going to see wholesale changes on the defensive side of the ball -- including losing some great positional coaches -- because no one is having a good time right now.

 

[IrishLax]

I'm guessing Marcus had to hire someone like Ash, because no one else was going to agree with taking the DC job and not be able to hire anyone. If Marcus wanted to keep the entire core of defensive coaches, he should have just promoted one of them.

I'm guessing there's a lot of push back from position coaches on what Ash wants to do, the players see it and now any time a big play happens they think its scheme that asshole outsider is trying to do.

On the other hand, last night might have been the first time Freeman has subtly called out the players. He mentioned the defense not being good enough because of execution. He better tread carefully and get this righted quickly or this team is going to turn on him.

The irony in all of this is that he wanted someone with experience because he thought he had a great thing coming back this year and didn't screw it up with someone learning on the job.

 

[IA4irish]

Does anyone legitimately know what the heck the defense worked on during the bye week? Is Ash even capable of making changes? That was probably golden’s greatest trait.

 

[IA4irish]

The irony in all of this is that he wanted someone with experience because he thought he had a great thing coming back this year and didn't screw it up with someone learning on the job.

How the heck did Freeman screw this up so royally? What does he actually think of Ash? Freeman once was supposed to be one of the best defensive minds in the game. The lack of improvement/adjustments in 2 games is shocking.

 

[Dale]

If you are legitimately asking what to do to protect your CB #3 from getting picked on, there are a number of options:

I was. Since I don’t take “have you never played or coached football” as a response that was necessary or offered anything of value. That was a bush league response to instantly jump for simply posting a statistic.

1. Let's start with what Ash ostensibly likes to do with zone + match principles. With this, you should be able to set Hobbs up to play with inside leverage and help over the top quite frequently. This should prevent plays like the big gainer to Craver on the last drive. There is no scenario where you should be asking Hobbs to cover 1v1 with that much green grass to the inside. And in general, if you play closer up to the line of scrimmage and pass off vertical routes (like slot fades, etc.) to a safety you are very unlikely to give up big plays. This is holistically where I think we are failing... guys are playing with the wrong leverage or being asked to cover in ways that are not set up for success.

Okay play zone. Yes this is the obvious. They all suck ass at zone. Moore, Gray, the LBs, the safeties, all of them. We saw versus Miami whenever we went to zone, Toney was blanketed but Beck would just check down or throw to Marion as everyone was overly shading towards Toney. Against A&M, when we went to zone the DL was not getting any pressure and someone eventually came open, as will happen with zone. So I agree zone is an easy answer to the slot, but I think we all agree at this point they are basically a F at playing it. That goes from DL up to safety, not just a CB issue.

2A. If we are saying he isn't covering out of the slot, and ignoring scheme and way oversimplifying things, then you can just bracket the mismatch and trust your other guys.

I’m not sure I follow the first part of this “if we are saying he isn’t covering out of the slot”

2B. You can also play matchups if you have coached your guys on how to do that and play multiple DB positions.

This isn’t an answer to not targeting Hobbs.

3. There are tons of ways to be exotic. You can use a robber underneath routes if you want to have him play off. You can roll coverages, you can blitz from the nickel, etc. etc. All of this is situational.

So given your feelings on Ash currently, do you want them to be more exotic? We’ve also done these things.

These are definitely schematic choices that can help deter or improve performance, but we also have to agree that they must just still throw there, right? Restrepo was one of the top WRs in CFB last year for Miami. This IS the Dawson offense. Craver and Toney are both Top 10 in the country in targets through 3 weeks. So you can say these are answers/solutions, but the other team has built their entire foundation of their offense on this. You’re not gonna get then to just not throw that way. Not when you don’t think highly of the guy on the other side.

Reality is we have 4 safeties that have made basically zero plays through two games and a DL offering zero pass rush. Gray also routinely getting beat deep. So in no way was I blaming the whole defense on Hobbs as you inferred. But if the answer comes down to “have others help him” in short, you’re robbing Peter to pay Paul with the play I’ve seen.

I will say as random aside I thought they were way too worried about Reed’s legs and that is a possible helper made available. But I guess if he scrambled more he may have gotten our entire defense ejected for targeting.

 

[Free Manera]

How the heck did Freeman screw this up so royally? What does he actually think of Ash? Freeman once was supposed to be one of the best defensive minds in the game. The lack of improvement/adjustments in 2 games is shocking.

What I’ve gathered is he really relied on some trusted advisors. And maybe they shouldn’t be quite so trusted in the future.

 

[NumbersGuy0520]

I believe that post to be like 45% true. And yes, post-spring the word straight from players mouths was that they didn't like / didn't understand the purpose behind the scheme changes. Also, being a DC is a LOT more than just Xs and Os. Everything from tackling to how stuff is drilled/taught is supposed to flow through you. Position coaches do not operate in vacuum.

You also cannot "unring the bell" and fire someone two games into the season. That's not realistic. So Freeman is in quite a pickle and I dunno what he opts to do here, but the sad part of all this is that we're probably going to see wholesale changes on the defensive side of the ball -- including losing some great positional coaches -- because no one is having a good time right now.

So honest question… given the second half of your post, why can’t we fire Ash and promote Mickens? What’s unrealistic? What are the negatives of firing Ash?

 

[IrishLax]

 

[NDRock]

So honest question… given the second half of your post, why can’t we fire Ash and promote Mickens? What’s unrealistic? What are the negatives of firing Ash?

The usual negatives. The first being the guy who just hired him would have to publicly admit that he royally fucked up. Not easy for most people.

 

[mrmcgrail]

Watch the line stunts they are almost non existent. The pressure packages he is bringing pretty much is a middle fire. The dts aren't mills they aren't going to demand a double team they need to get creative. His left and right edge is dumb and creates easy to identify where to chip and bring help on pass rushers. Back end you can tell guys are hesitant and we are barely playing cover 1 robber. We still play man but we aren't bringing shuler in as the robber nearly as much as we did last year. We aren't running as much man allowing the backers to fire if they don't have a man to cover. You can tell also run fills aren't the same this year. You would see last year where they would stunt and a linebacker would fill to the stunt. All around it's bad and it isn't close to last years scheme

 

[NumbersGuy0520]

The usual negatives. The first being the guy who just hired him would have to publicly admit that he royally fucked up. Not easy for most people.

I mean, fair. That’s roughly what I have in my head. But that’s not a great reason to me.

So we’d rather deal with the growing unrest within the locker room, potential loss of position coaches and recruits, stagnated player development, and limited ceiling rather than admit we were wrong?

Fully aware there are no great options here. But the defense almost definitely cannot be worse, and promoting Mickens right now would allow for optimism and marked improvement as the schedule opens up.

I’m sure there are things I’m missing. But UCLA just fired their HC. I’d rather us outwardly show that this level of coaching is unacceptable than to try to fit the square peg into a round hole or to try to deal with it behind closed doors.

 

[IrishLax]

I was. Since I don’t take “have you never played or coached football” as a response that was necessary or offered anything of value. That was a bush league response to instantly jump for simply posting a statistic.

I can see how that comes across as needlessly antagonistic and I apologize for that. The essence of what I was getting at is that "hunt the duck" is something every single OC tries to do in the sense that you literally gameplan to attack the perceived weak link in your opponent. And it's the job of coordinators to play to strength + mask weakness. So if your "duck" is being hunted at that kind of rate and success it means that you are doing a really crappy job of coordinating your defense. It's your job to run your defense so that "throw at Hobbs every down" fails.

Okay play zone. Yes this is the obvious. They all suck ass at zone. Moore, Gray, the LBs, the safeties, all of them. We saw versus Miami whenever we went to zone, Toney was blanketed but Beck would just check down or throw to Marion as everyone was overly shading towards Toney. Against A&M, when we went to zone the DL was not getting any pressure and someone eventually came open, as will happen with zone. So I agree zone is an easy answer to the slot, but I think we all agree at this point they are basically a F at playing it. That goes from DL up to safety, not just a CB issue.

No, I'm not saying "play zone", I'm saying *given that Ash wants to play zone* this is what you would do to protect someone like Hobbs in that scheme*

I’m not sure I follow the first part of this “if we are saying he isn’t covering out of the slot”

This isn’t an answer to not targeting Hobbs.

So given your feelings on Ash currently, do you want them to be more exotic? We’ve also done these things.

This is the kind of stuff where, with all due respect, it comes across like you just want to argue for the sake of arguing. And maybe you don't mean it that way, but that's how I read it because I don't think what I'm saying lacks clarity. You've asked me to go into a bunch of hypotheticals of what you could do with Hobbs and I'm saying "if you want to have another CB play the slot because that's too hard for Hobbs, then you'd do this". It would take paragraphs upon paragraphs to try to debate every single potential coverage option for ND.

The core of what I'm trying to say is that no player is so bad that you don't have options to help them (and your team) succeed. It is not about forcing teams to never throw at Hobbs, it's about:
1. Making it easier for Hobbs to cover
2. Making it so that if he gets beat it doesn't go for an explosive play