Chris "Belt To" Ash - Defensive Coordinator

NDpendent

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IAIrish said:
Well, shit. File this under, exactly what I wanted to hear Ash say at his intro:

On his defensive approach and the coaches from his past who’ve influenced his philosophy…​

"Yeah, so just overall philosophically as we approach this situation here, I look at it, if it's not broke, don't fix it. And that was really the conversation that Coach Freeman and I had about this situation. There has been really good football play here on defense. There's been standards, there's been accountability, they've been well coached and we're just looking at ways that we can try to enhance it and make it better. "

On how much the players will have to adapt to his terminology and coaching philosophies…​

"Yeah, I'm here to become one of them, and they're not here to adjust to me. I'm here to adjust to them. The staff, the players, the scheme, the whole overall culture of the organization. That's what I'm coming to be a part of. This is Notre Dame's defense. This is not my defense. This is Notre Dame's, and I'm coming here to try to help continue the success that they've had on defense and find ways to try to make it better. That's it."

247sports.com

Everything New Notre Dame Defensive Coordinator Chris Ash Said During His Introductory Press Conference

On Wednesday, new Notre Dame defensive coordinator Chris Ash addressed the media at his introductory press conference. Here is everything he had to say.
247sports.com 247sports.com
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It sounds like he was told to go listen to why Freeman hired Golden and say the exact same thing and you will get the job. Literally everything in here echos Golden talking tracks the first few months or what Freeman said about Golden.

I hope he is sincere because if so this is a good mindset to have
 
IrishLion

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That’s what elite culture being built by Freeman looks like.

You bring new people into the ND culture (players, coaches, etc.), they have to earn the right to be a part of the ND culture. They prove they can contribute to the greater mission, THEN they have the trust of the group to start making changes and calling things their way… and because of MFMF, they’ll do it in a way that builds on what ND has, rather than needing to tear anything down and start from scratch.

Basically… look at what Saban did with Bama’s coaching staff for so many years. You come here and learn Alabama football, and then we’ll let you start to put your handprints on things.

If the Ash hire works out as the Golden hire did, that’s some elite shit from Freeman. We’ll see!
 
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IAIrish said:
Well, shit. File this under, exactly what I wanted to hear Ash say at his intro:

On his defensive approach and the coaches from his past who’ve influenced his philosophy…​

"Yeah, so just overall philosophically as we approach this situation here, I look at it, if it's not broke, don't fix it. And that was really the conversation that Coach Freeman and I had about this situation. There has been really good football play here on defense. There's been standards, there's been accountability, they've been well coached and we're just looking at ways that we can try to enhance it and make it better. "

On how much the players will have to adapt to his terminology and coaching philosophies…​

"Yeah, I'm here to become one of them, and they're not here to adjust to me. I'm here to adjust to them. The staff, the players, the scheme, the whole overall culture of the organization. That's what I'm coming to be a part of. This is Notre Dame's defense. This is not my defense. This is Notre Dame's, and I'm coming here to try to help continue the success that they've had on defense and find ways to try to make it better. That's it."

247sports.com

Everything New Notre Dame Defensive Coordinator Chris Ash Said During His Introductory Press Conference

On Wednesday, new Notre Dame defensive coordinator Chris Ash addressed the media at his introductory press conference. Here is everything he had to say.
247sports.com 247sports.com
Click to expand...
One of the things that Nick Saban enforced when he had a revolving door of coordinators is they moved to Alabama's system, not Alabama shifting to the coordinator's system. Sure, they put a lot of twists and changes on it, but the continuity stayed in Nick's system.

I'm not saying Freeman is the next Nick Saban BUT I think it's a really great approach and it's one of the things I wanted to see from Ash.
 
T-Boone

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He doesn't look anywhere near as dorky as that early photo of him that circulated. I am going to give him a chance.
 
Irish#1

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GreenGemsOmally said:
One of the things that Nick Saban enforced when he had a revolving door of coordinators is they moved to Alabama's system, not Alabama shifting to the coordinator's system. Sure, they put a lot of twists and changes on it, but the continuity stayed in Nick's system.

I'm not saying Freeman is the next Nick Saban BUT I think it's a really great approach and it's one of the things I wanted to see from Ash.
Click to expand...
Yep, it's so much easier for one guy to learn a system than to teach 30 players and assistant coaches a new system. IIRC VanGorder brought in his own D and we saw how that went.
 
PolishDomer

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T-Boone said:
He doesn't look anywhere near as dorky as that early photo of him that circulated. I am going to give him a chance.
Click to expand...
1200px-Chris_Ash.png

"I am not a dork...I once talked to a girl..."
 
Dale

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Handful of things addressed here that I haven’t seen just reported, unless I’ve missed a lot:


- Why was he asked if Kia was a safety? Answer was no

Multiple questions on playing 7 technique on the edge:

"When I got here, this defense wasn't broken. This defense has been well-coached, it's performed at a high level, and conceptually, they've been doing things that I really believe in. My objective was really to identify some things we could do better or put players in positions to help their skill set. Really we're just taking a look at different ways to play our defensive ends to help them rush the passer, force one-on-one blocks with tight ends a bit more."
"We're just checking things out in the spring. So far, so good; I think they like it….

…We're just messing around and giving them some opportunities to play on the edge, helping them in their pass rush. It forces tight ends to have to block pretty good players one-on-one.

Also can set the edge in the run game, keep the ball inside, not let it get outside and get beat on the perimeter. We're just dabbling with some different things, like I said before. I'm just here trying to find some ways that maybe we can make some little tweaks that we can get better on what they have done in the past. It's something we're messing around with this spring."
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IrishLion

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Reliable Source:

- Ash has installed his defense, but with Golden/Freeman fingerprints all over it

- Not constant/heavy blitzing, but will find other ways to be aggressive, including heavy man coverage

- Will use zone coverage, but selectively

- Preaches certain core principals and fundamentals of his system… but encourages freelancing and trusting instincts on occasion

- Players adapting well to his personality and coaching style. He’s known as a dude that gets fired up and coaches players hard, but time has mellowed him out a bit

- There will be some hiccups… but generally expect defense to be elite again, with minimal to zero dropoff because of both the coaching staff and because of elite athletes all over
 
Giddyup

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Nah. Ash is gonna be ass. He’s gonna cost us a championship like Landow
 
Dale

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Does zone coverage mean true zone or more like match coverage like Quarters which is what Ash was known for? Or even the single high match stuff the Saban tree which would be a more direct morph from most of the man coverage we already played
 
Giddyup

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I’m having BVG flashbacks. Hopefully I’m just having a mental breakdown but I’m presenting the worst case
 
Dale

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ulukinatme

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IrishLion said:
Reliable Source:

- Ash has installed his defense, but with Golden/Freeman fingerprints all over it

- Not constant/heavy blitzing, but will find other ways to be aggressive, including heavy man coverage

- Will use zone coverage, but selectively

- Preaches certain core principals and fundamentals of his system… but encourages freelancing and trusting instincts on occasion

- Players adapting well to his personality and coaching style. He’s known as a dude that gets fired up and coaches players hard, but time has mellowed him out a bit

- There will be some hiccups… but generally expect defense to be elite again, with minimal to zero dropoff because of both the coaching staff and because of elite athletes all over
Click to expand...

Don't Parker this up, Ash! I want to see if he can make elite halftime adjustments, but adjustments before halftime would be great too. I'm tired of 2nd quarter meltdowns, I'd like to stop the bleeding sooner.
 
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IrishLion said:
Reliable Source:

- Ash has installed his defense, but with Golden/Freeman fingerprints all over it

- Not constant/heavy blitzing, but will find other ways to be aggressive, including heavy man coverage

- Will use zone coverage, but selectively

- Preaches certain core principals and fundamentals of his system… but encourages freelancing and trusting instincts on occasion

- Players adapting well to his personality and coaching style. He’s known as a dude that gets fired up and coaches players hard, but time has mellowed him out a bit

- There will be some hiccups… but generally expect defense to be elite again, with minimal to zero dropoff because of both the coaching staff and because of elite athletes all over
Click to expand...
Thanks for giving us addicted some news on an off day! Needed my daily fix.
 
T-Boone

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calvegas04 said:
1200px-Chris_Ash.png
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He looks like a weirdo and a nerd in this picture but all the footage Ive seen of him at practice he looks nothing like this and is actual an alpha looking dude. This pic might well be of his weirdo brother.
 
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rtrn2glory

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Shit this is the first time I can say this in awhile but with the talent the defense has it'll be really hard to screw this up
 
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