Chris "Belt To" Ash - Defensive Coordinator

[IRISHDODGER]

In 2024 ND only faced two really good QBs in the regular season…Tyler Shough & Jayden Maiava. I suspect Haynes King would’ve been a challenge had he been healthy enough to go for GT but ND got the backup. The Irish D gave up almost 400 yds in total offense to UL & 557 to SC. Other than that, the defense wasn’t really challenged by any solid QB play in the REGULAR season.

This season, in addition to losing the spine of their D & their DC; they’ve already faced Carson Beck who has shown why he was so highly rated going into last season. I’m not sold on Reed b/c he couldn’t even complete 50% of his balls & left a lot of meat on the bone when it came to yds/pts. A good defense will have him looking much worse.

PU: Let’s hope Ryan Browne doesn’t have the game of his career this Saturday & hope ND takes care of business…for everyone’s sake.

UA: Then they have Taylen Green who will be a challenge. OL should be solid to good but not as good as Miami & A&M.

BSU: Maddux Madsen had a helluva season last year leading BSU (along w/ Jeanty of course) to the CFP. He struggled vs USF & looked to get back on track against FCS EWU so no clue what he’ll be like when they come into ND.

NCST: CJ Bailey looks good so far. He’s 3-0 as the RS freshman starter. They’ve beaten 3 FBS opponents (2 being ACC). So far, 70% completion pct & avg 4 ypc. NCST was down 14-0 late in the 1Q last week vs WF

SC: The following week ND hosts the aforementioned Maiava & his two elite WR that torched ND last year. Enough said

BC: Lonergan is an Alabama transfer. He put up a ton of passing yds in their OT win over SpartY. He didn’t look bad vs Stanford until the pick six. Sounds like BC’s defense lost their will to defend the Stanford run.

PITT: Another Alabama transfer in Eli Holstein. He looked good vs inferior competition but got sacked six times by WVU in their OT loss to the Mountaineers

SU: Angeli comes back for ND Senior Day. I list him out of respect. Numbers look good vs inferior competition but again for those just skimming, I’m comparing QB play on the 2025 slate vs what the Irish faced last season. So if you want to go on about how these guys padded stats vs inferior competition, my point is more about being a more worthy opponent compared to the QBs ND faced last season.

I didn’t list Navy or Stanford for obvious reasons but obviously ND has proven in the MF era they can’t take any opponent for granted.

 

[Irish du Nord]

I think ash is by far the biggest issue, it's not popular, but I think Mickens is a bit overrated ( i get it, not popular opinion).

he's been here since 2020, so 2021 was his first class of corners. Here are all of his recruits

2021
Riley - Bust
Barnes - Bust
Tucker - Bust
JoJo - Bust
Styles - Best corner on the team but played WR
2022
Mickey - maybe not a complete bust, but not a good impact on the field at ND
Bellamy - nothing at ND
BenMo - Stud, but I would argue his best year by far was his frosh year. I thought he got a little sloppy/lazy at times as he got older, and injuries jr year didn't help
2023
Gray - Showed big time promise as a true frosh and has degraded each year with more coaching under mickens
Bell - Bust at corner, playing RB now
2024
Leonard Moore - He's a stud, hit a home run, will probably have a great season, and miami may end up being one of his worst games of his career. I expect Moore to be the top ND corner in the NFL in a long long time. He walked in the door as NDs best corner without mickens coaching (give mickens credit for great eval though).
Hobbs - Don't see it, never have - won't call him a bust yet, but he's been a big reason why we're 0-2
2025 - TBD


So, he's recruited 2 studs his first 4 years that walked in and were the best corners on the team. There hasn't been a great track record of corners under him (AT ND) getting better each year and developing. Not BenMo IMO, Not Gray clearly, and I'd argue hart's best year was 2021 and he wasn't quite as good in 2022/2023. Hart is probably the only case you could make showing corner development year over year at ND.

I think mickens is a fine coach, but our secondary has been terrible against good passing teams the last 2 years. I also think it's telling we've had to hit the portal 3 years in a row now for a nickel corner. IMO because he's not developing the position good enough.

To finalize, ash is the bigger issue, but Mickens should NOT get a pass for how his secondary is playing.

Micah Bell has as many rushing yards as Chance Tucker: 0.

He’s not listed in the 5 deep on UGA’s depth chart (which is significantly worse than our RB room). He’s as big a bust as anyone on here.

 

[NDFAN2008]

Angeli is gonna eat us alive if we sit back and give his WR's a 10 yard cushion

 

[Irish#1]

I wouldn't say Gray looked better last year than this year, name me a game he looked good in last year where we played a team with good WR's? A&M didn't have shit for WR last year, he got torched against USC, Indiana torched us at the end and made a run, Penn State didn't have any good WR's, Georgia had like 3 drops where they had our guys beat wide open, and Ohio State torched him.

Regardless of the play called, USC kept running their receivers deep to wear down Gray hoping to land the big one. He didn't walk on water, but he held his own. IU? We went into soft coverage when they moved the ball at the end. The intent was to force them to take the gimmes and eat up the clock.

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

Matt Patricia didn't bring anyone when he took the DC job at Ohio State this offseason, the whole rest of their defensive staff returned. I think was same when they hired Chip Kelly as OC the year before. Did anyone go with Tommy Rees when he went to Alabama?

For sure, sometimes coordinators like to bring along an assistant or two - Mike Elko is how we got Clark Lea - but it's by no means universal, and I doubt it was a big factor in why we hired Ash. Seems more like we just got outbid on Knowles and then settled on a guy who some of Freeman's Ohio State mentors recommended.

That's ultimately what I think happened but I wonder if they could have kept going and tried to find someone else, depending on the timeline. These things don't just pop up out of thin air behind the scenes. The people in charge probably knew the Bengals were coming for Al Golden long before media and fans did.

I had my heart set on Tem Lukabu, and if this keeps up this season, I'm probably going to keep it set there. Would being DC at ND be enough to lure him out of an NFL LB coaching job remains to be seen. Is there mutual interest whatsoever or any connections, I do not know.

 

[mrmcgrail]

No one is saying gray is great I never once said that but to say all of a sudden he can't play when he was part of the number one ranked pass defense last year is insane and that all of a sudden mickens can't coach. It's obvious what it is they were able to slide help over to grays side with having Moore or Morrison at boundary you had watts as the best center fielder in college last year you were able to use shuler as the robber to take away the middle and Clark was great as a nickel. USC the biggest issue was zero pressure and let's not forget we turned the ball over and if we didn't we stomp them out and it isn't even a game. You can watch and see there is so much miscommunication and too many things going on that guys are guessing and trying to jump routes because they are initially out of position. Not sure if mickens is having a hard time getting across to his guys with this new scheme what they need but it's obviously a scheme issue being executed terribly

 

[TracyGraham]

I don't get the Gray hate. He's isnt Leonard, but he isn't completely incompetent either. I'd assume he is a top 25 CB. Is our defensive scheme so awful that we can only have success if we have two top 5 cornerbacks? A lockdown CB in Leonard and a top 25 cb in Gray should be more than enough to get the job done well imo. In other words, Gray is not the problem

 

[StPaul_Irish]

I don't get the Gray hate. He's isnt Leonard, but he isn't completely incompetent either. I'd assume he is a top 25 CB. Is our defensive scheme so awful that we can only have success if we have two top 5 cornerbacks? A lockdown CB in Leonard and a top 25 cb in Gray should be more than enough to get the job done well imo. In other words, Gray is not the problem

Guys look confused and slow

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

Interesting that when Antonio Pierce had his interim tag removed and became Raiders HC, one of the few defensive assistants he got rid of that was hired by McDaniels was Chris Ash. Then the guy was not coaching for a year. Now he's replaced last year's Broyles winner.

There was a risk in this hire. A big risk. We all obviously want it to go well, but we're clearly not off to a great start. I hope it turns around and the guy proves us all wrong. It would be hard for anyone in his position to turn down the DC job at ND considering how his career had been going.

 

[Rocketman84]

I don't think Ash is the right guy but I'm not putting all the blame on him. Getting Gray and Zackary to turn their hips properly isn't an Ash issue it's a Mickens issue, the lack of pass rush from the defense the blame has to start with Washington? Who was the last DE that got drafted high for ND Foskey? The lack of talent developing on the DL is concerning

Getting the high end talent on the DL or even to campus more than once has been a problem.

 

[Rocketman84]

Interesting that when Antonio Pierce had his interim tag removed and became Raiders HC, one of the few defensive assistants he got rid of that was hired by McDaniels was Chris Ash. Then the guy was not coaching for a year. Now he's replaced last year's Broyles winner.

There was a risk in this hire. A big risk. We all obviously want it to go well, but we're clearly not off to a great start. I hope it turns around and the guy proves us all wrong. It would be hard for anyone in his position to turn down the DC job at ND considering how his career had been going.

Basically a FICKELL (9th year) led O$U defense won the title and Ash (1st year) rode his coattails as a Co-DC for credit. The '14 title team defense allowed 21 ppg but once Ash went elsewhere as a Coach or sole DC ALL his defenses have allowed between 29-38 ppg and usually rank in the 100s in Points Allowed out of 120 teams.

Honestly, so far his defense allowing 34 PPG is exactly what his defenses average with him calling the shots for his career.

 

[Rocketman84]

Sorry to derail thread some

Back on track - Last time Ash was a DC his D gave up 28.5 PPG. He's also been a DB/S coach much of his career....maybe he's helping/hurting more with the secondary?

That's the best/least a Defense led by him has given up which is crazy, but all the others were in the mid 30s and even as much as 38😳😳😳

Makes you wonder who the hell in their right mind would even hire a guy like this to command their Defense.

 

[KMac151993]

That's the best/least a Defense led by him has given up which is crazy, but all the others were in the mid 30s and even as much as 38😳😳😳

Makes you wonder who the hell in their right mind would even hire a guy like this to command their Defense.

Coach Marcus Freeman

 

[IrishTusker]

Interesting that when Antonio Pierce had his interim tag removed and became Raiders HC, one of the few defensive assistants he got rid of that was hired by McDaniels was Chris Ash. Then the guy was not coaching for a year. Now he's replaced last year's Broyles winner.

There was a risk in this hire. A big risk. We all obviously want it to go well, but we're clearly not off to a great start. I hope it turns around and the guy proves us all wrong. It would be hard for anyone in his position to turn down the DC job at ND considering how his career had been going.

Nobody is blaming him for taking the job. But it's like anything else- was he in demand to be a DC in college or the pros? Knowles was. Patricia was. Golden was. Ash apparently wasn't, except at ND.

 

[Rocketman84]

Coach Marcus Freeman

I still find it hard to believe he would be that naive...can't even say it was an OSU connection because Ash was gone before you know it and was not even calling the shots that year, FICKELL was the play caller of that championship team which got by with its great offensive play. Who else can be down to their 3rd string QB and in the three most important game of the year (Wisconsin, Bama & Oregon) put up 143 points.

 

[BleedingGold]

I admit, when this hire was made I was completely dumbfounded. Never heard of him. I fully assumed that the late window to find a replacement limited our options.

 

[Bane]

He's going to have to deliver the Legion of Boom resurgent for the next 10 games for me to come around to him. I think the guy sucks, has always sucked, Freeman should have know he sucked, and Freeman hired him anyways. I've said before, this was my single biggest question mark coming into the season and it's been worse than even my most pessimistic predictions.

It's unknown if Mickens could be a good DC, but it was known before Ash stepped foot in South Bend that he wasn't a good DC. To make matters worse, people are trying to big brain themselves to the fact that Mickens secretly sucks as a massive coping mechanism, which is completely asinine. Go ahead, let him go and see what we replace him with. I'm sure Freeman's "mentors" know a guy who used to coach his son's peewee football team (they went winless and gave up 40ppg) and scalped tickets outside the Horseshoe when they won the title in 2014 so we're all good.

 

[IrishTusker]

I admit, when this hire was made I was completely dumbfounded. Never heard of him. I fully assumed that the late window to find a replacement limited our options.

It did, but OSU also had a late window. Some coaches/programs know how to hire, I guess, and others don't.

 

[Bane]

Interesting that when Antonio Pierce had his interim tag removed and became Raiders HC, one of the few defensive assistants he got rid of that was hired by McDaniels was Chris Ash. Then the guy was not coaching for a year. Now he's replaced last year's Broyles winner.

There was a risk in this hire. A big risk. We all obviously want it to go well, but we're clearly not off to a great start. I hope it turns around and the guy proves us all wrong. It would be hard for anyone in his position to turn down the DC job at ND considering how his career had been going.

Goddamn, if even AP wouldn't let the guy coach you know he's straight ass.

 

[Bane]

Coach Marcus Freeman

Who are these "mentors" giving him advice I always hear about? Nico Iamaleava's father and LaVar Ball?

 

[T-Boone]

I don't get the Gray hate. He's isnt Leonard, but he isn't completely incompetent either. I'd assume he is a top 25 CB. Is our defensive scheme so awful that we can only have success if we have two top 5 cornerbacks? A lockdown CB in Leonard and a top 25 cb in Gray should be more than enough to get the job done well imo. In other words, Gray is not the problem

Did you not watch the TAM game? What ever the reason it was an unbelievably bad game for him.

 

[Bane]

Who are these "mentors" giving him advice I always hear about? Nico Iamaleava's father and LaVar Ball?

“don’t listen to those nasty haters on the beat, my lord, Chris Ash is the perfect man to take ND over the top.”

 

[RipWheeler]

View attachment 3060090
“don’t listen to those nasty haters on the beat, my lord, Chris Ash is the perfect man to take ND over the top.”

Time to pop that OSU titty out your mouth Marcus.

 

[notredomer23]

 

[rtrn2glory]

It's not out of the realm of possibility. If Taylor loses a ton in the next 3 months, in all reality he should've been fired by now anyway and there's been smoke of Saban wanting to coach again. Bengals would be interesting if I'm him

 

[ulukinatme]

I'm going to admit I didn't really look into the Ass hire when it happened, I thought "Surely we can't wind up with another Parker/VanGorder after Golden left us with a Top 10 defense?" This dude has been a DC for 3 years in the last decade, and 2 of those years he was Co-DC with Fickell at OSU. The other year he DC'd for Texas during the pandemic and he stunk the place up. In a 3 loss 9 game regular season they gave up 31 points to a mediocre at best TCU team, 34 to a mediocre Oklahoma State, 31 to a very bad Kansas State, 53 to Oklahoma (It was 4 OT, but 2 drives ended with no points), and 56 points to Texas Tech in single OT who went 4-6 that year. This is not impressive. He had a few decent years at Wisky when they were good...well over a decade ago. The cupboard wasn't bare, I'm having a hard time understanding this hire. I'm struggling even more to understand how he's a secondary specialist after his DC jobs.

 

[Pete]

 

[Crazy Balki]

I'm going to admit I didn't really look into the Ass hire when it happened, I thought "Surely we can't wind up with another Parker/VanGorder after Golden left us with a Top 10 defense?" This dude has been a DC for 3 years in the last decade, and 2 of those years he was Co-DC with Fickell at OSU. The other year he DC'd for Texas during the pandemic and he stunk the place up. In a 3 loss 9 game regular season they gave up 31 points to a mediocre at best TCU team, 34 to a mediocre Oklahoma State, 31 to a very bad Kansas State, 53 to Oklahoma (It was 4 OT, but 2 drives ended with no points), and 56 points to Texas Tech in single OT who went 4-6 that year. This is not impressive. He had a few decent years at Wisky when they were good...well over a decade ago. The cupboard wasn't bare, I'm having a hard time understanding this hire. I'm struggling even more to understand how he's a secondary specialist after his DC jobs.

To be fair, the year prior to him going to Ohio State, their defense was really mediocre. They went from 47th in defensive FEI in '13 to 13th in 2014, then went to 7th in 2015.

And yeah, Texas' defense was average in 2020, but COVID isn't exactly a good time to instill a new defense. You're limited in time. And their defense was also quite meh in 2019. They gave up 30+ in 6 games that year.

This is different. At Ohio State and Texas, he was tasked with improving mediocre defenses into good ones. He, he had many returning components of one of the best defensive units in the country from the previous year and so far, the results have been significantly below expectations.

 

[ulukinatme]

To be fair, the year prior to him going to Ohio State, their defense was really mediocre. They went from 47th in defensive FEI in '13 to 13th in 2014, then went to 7th in 2015.

And yeah, Texas' defense was average in 2020, but COVID isn't exactly a good time to instill a new defense. You're limited in time. And their defense was also quite meh in 2019. They gave up 30+ in 6 games that year.

This is different. At Ohio State and Texas, he was tasked with improving mediocre defenses into good ones. He, he had many returning components of one of the best defensive units in the country from the previous year and so far, the results have been significantly below expectations.

We didn't need a DC that could turn a mediocre defense into a good one though, we needed a DC that wasn't going to turn a good defense into ass.

 

[T-Boone]

I think he needs to admit he was wrong and ask Freeman for some help. He's getting beat like he stole somthin.