Chris "Belt To" Ash - Defensive Coordinator

Jiggafini19Deux · Sep 28, 2026

Purdue starting quarterback Ryan Browne went 3-for-10 for 18 yards when under pressure. Last week, Michigan State quarterback Alessio Milivojevic went 2-for-6 for 9 yards and an interception under pressure. And Wisconsin quarterback Colton Joseph was 2-for-6 for 24 yards and a pick when the Irish got heat on him.

That’s a combined 7-for-25 passing for 51 yards, zero touchdowns, two interceptions, with 10 sacks and two lost fumbles. One of those turnovers was a pick six and one of those fumbles was returned for a touchdown.

Per Pete Sampson.

Good Lord.

Jimmy3Putt · Sep 28, 2026

IrishLax said:

Even I understand this one!

zelezo vlk · Sep 28, 2026

Jiggafini19Deux said:
Per Pete Sampson.

Good Lord.

Is that good?

SWirishfan · Sep 28, 2026

Jimmy3Putt said:
Even I understand this one!

Love that Purdue and MSU are squarely in the "Victim of Chaos" quadrant with Wisky just starting to get over their own personal ND flavored Rough Wooing.

BleedBlueGold · Sep 28, 2026

UNC, BYU, Miami, SMU...."victims of chaos" incoming.

DCK_1981 · Sep 28, 2026

I had to go back to look at the beginning of this thread for entertainment. A lot of very sane, rational takes being given.

NDpendent · Oct 2, 2026

OrlaNDomer · Oct 2, 2026

NDpendent said:
View attachment 3065035

Holy fuck that’s beautiful.

Dale · Oct 5, 2026

This puts us as more like a top 20 pass defense. I looked back to last week and we moved down very slightly, but a ton like Tennessee and Nebraska moved up

RDU Irish · Oct 5, 2026

Wonder what the updated stats look like. I feel silly being down on our performance when we held them to 3.3YPC on 77 total rushing and 208 passing and forcing two INTs. In control the whole way, just thirsty for leave no doubt domination.

brewdog_14527 · Oct 5, 2026

RDU Irish said:
Wonder what the updated stats look like. I feel silly being down on our performance when we held them to 3.3YPC on 77 total rushing and 208 passing and forcing two INTs. In control the whole way, just thirsty for leave no doubt domination.

Was really just 3 drives. They had 285 on the day, and 246 came on 3 drives. The other 6 didn't do much of anything. That would seem to be a loss of focus/discipline during those drives. That should be fixable and maybe necessary after the first 4 games they played.

RDU Irish · Oct 5, 2026

brewdog_14527 said:
Was really just 3 drives. They had 285 on the day, and 246 came on 3 drives. The other 6 didn't do much of anything. That would seem to be a loss of focus/discipline during those drives. That should be fixable and maybe necessary after the first 4 games they played.

We were right behind the bench. Team was flat looking like they were clocking in to the factory for the noon kick at a bush league facility. Still dominated.

Irish#1 · Oct 5, 2026

brewdog_14527 said:
Was really just 3 drives. They had 285 on the day, and 246 came on 3 drives. The other 6 didn't do much of anything. That would seem to be a loss of focus/discipline during those drives. That should be fixable and maybe necessary after the first 4 games they played.

But we've come to expect "just one drive".

LifelongFan · Oct 17, 2026

Leave him on the tarmac.

irishjim · Oct 17, 2026

Looks like first 2 games last year. Media is right. He only makes defense look good against crap teams

DCDomer · Oct 17, 2026

Go get Venables when OU fires him. We need someone that can coach the game and develop talent, not just pray that his talent gap will be enough.

benneboy · Oct 17, 2026

Maye shouldve kept Mickens. Pass defense was leaking oil til now. Now just fully expised

IrishLax · Oct 17, 2026

Silentkaw · Oct 17, 2026

Ash is the weak link on the staff. Denbrock wasn’t perfect but ND wins by 2 touchdowns if Carr is even decent instead of bad.

SportsingHard · Oct 17, 2026

IrishLax said:

Vastly overweighting his first two games when players were missing or playing injured, the players were learning the D and related communication, and true freshmen were needed in key roles.

Silentkaw · Oct 18, 2026

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that in the 3 games he’s coached against more comparable talent he’s had zero answers.

NDFAN2008 · Oct 18, 2026

I think we are being a little too harsh on Ash. He coulda called a better game but when your star DE makes a bone head play on the first drive it changed things big time. Not to mention. Johnson who’s probally our 3-4th best player is out injured.

ulukinatme · Oct 18, 2026

BYU's offense wasn't that good. 2nd half was obviously better, but we gave up some easy drives against them in the 1st half that we shouldn't have. Denbrock could have called a better game, but Ash can't give up 21 in the 1st half.

FWIrish4 · Oct 18, 2026

We can argue man vs. zone coverage all day, but playing passive and letting BYU dictate the game on offense is a coaching malpractice. It drives me crazy our defense is not the aggressor in games and makes me miss Golden.

Rushing 4 over and over again without any success when BYU leads the country in 7+ man protections. How do you ever think that’s going to cause any havoc or get them off their game? 2 TFLs for the entire game and one is the fake punt…

Veritate Duce Progredi · Oct 18, 2026

Ash's incompetence is hidden by superior players. Against weaker competition, they simply make too many plays and overwhelm the opponent. But any team that is within a standard deviation of ND, we struggle and sometimes look bad because Ash has no fucking clue how to call a game.

If Golden was still here, we'd have won by 10+ even with an anemic offense.

Irish#1 · Oct 18, 2026

He’s been decent on making first half adjustments until last night. He was too worried about Bear and didn’t let the D play until the second half when he didn’t have much of a choice.

IrishLax · Oct 18, 2026

Veritate Duce Progredi said:
Ash's incompetence is hidden by superior players. Against weaker competition, they simply make too many plays and overwhelm the opponent. But any team that is within a standard deviation of ND, we struggle and sometimes look bad because Ash has no fucking clue how to call a game.

If Golden was still here, we'd have won by 10+ even with an anemic offense.

Exactly. We have seen the more-with-less guys and less-with-more guys. He is closer to BVG than he is to Clark Lea.

This is the most loaded defense ND has ever had and they are *poorly coached* just by the simple fact of how many busts they have and how often they have trouble getting lined up pre-snap.

arrowryan · Oct 18, 2026

IrishLax said:
Exactly. We have seen the more-with-less guys and less-with-more guys. He is closer to BVG than he is to Clark Lea.

This is the most loaded defense ND has ever had and they are *poorly coached* just by the simple fact of how many busts they have and how often they have trouble getting lined up pre-snap.

Is Freeman gonna clean house this offseason?

DCDomer · Oct 18, 2026

arrowryan said:
Is Freeman gonna clean house this offseason?

Absolutely not. Doesn't seem like the kind to follow through on a firing even when we all know it has to be done.

MacIrish75 · Oct 18, 2026

arrowryan said:
Is Freeman gonna clean house this offseason?

I was too pissed to put it into words properly last night, but this is what I meant when I called this MF’s version of 2016. He’s going to have to make some changes with his staff, particularly on offense.

Chris "Belt To" Ash - Defensive Coordinator

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