Chris "Belt To" Ash - Defensive Coordinator

greyhammer90

greyhammer90

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NDFAN2008 said:
Driskell calling out Freeman saying play calling is the issue.
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Describing Driskell's bitching on his daily multi-hour internet therapy session as "calling out" the Notre Dame head football coach is such a generous characterization.
 
KMac151993

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Bane said:
Beyond me thinking Ash just sucks at designing and calling defense, it feels like no one wants to play for him. Whereas it felt like players would die for Golden, I don't think Ash inspires any sort of love. He feels like an odd man out and doesn't seem like he meshes with the vibe of the team. Of course, that's just my outsider perspective.
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So then why did Freeman bring him in? He preaches culture culture culture. Ash is what he is and yet Freeman brought him in.
 
SportsingHard

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ulukinatme said:
So it's your assessment that losing Watts, Kiser, and Mills somehow turned out Top 10 defense into a bottom feeder and the coaching had nothing to do with it? That sounds like a serious development issue then, like fire the entire defensive staff. Guess Ash is gone either way.
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Not even close, but when I post thorough analysis, the typical response is, "I'm not reading that. Fuck you."

Let's assume for the moment Chris Ash is 100% of the problem. That still does not imply the problem is play-calling. Play-calling represents less than 1% of the DC's job. When the defense looks like shit REGARDLESS OF THE PLAYCALL, it can ABSOLUTELY be the DC's fault, but play-calling cannot be the chief issue--and it might not be in the top ten.

Many of you guys are acting like, if we simply let you select the plays, we'll immediately go back to being a defensive juggernaut. I promise you, that is not the case.
 
PolishDomer

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SportsingHard said:
Not even close, but when I post thorough analysis, the typical response is, "I'm not reading that. Fuck you."

Let's assume for the moment Chris Ash is 100% of the problem. That still does not imply the problem is play-calling. Play-calling represents less than 1% of the DC's job. When the defense looks like shit REGARDLESS OF THE PLAYCALL, it can ABSOLUTELY be the DC's fault, but play-calling cannot be the chief issue--and it might not be in the top ten.

Many of you guys are acting like, if we simply let you select the plays, we'll immediately go back to being a defensive juggernaut. I promise you, that is not the case.
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Im sorry Sports...but when the idiot calls Prevent at end of 1st half vs Texas A&M giving them a 20 yard cushion by having the defense sit in end zone up to 20 and allowed them to complete to get to field goal range...that was egregious and was a play calling issue...it was bonkers!
 
IrishBoognish

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SportsingHard said:
Not even close, but when I post thorough analysis, the typical response is, "I'm not reading that. Fuck you."

Let's assume for the moment Chris Ash is 100% of the problem. That still does not imply the problem is play-calling. Play-calling represents less than 1% of the DC's job. When the defense looks like shit REGARDLESS OF THE PLAYCALL, it can ABSOLUTELY be the DC's fault, but play-calling cannot be the chief issue--and it might not be in the top ten.

Many of you guys are acting like, if we simply let you select the plays, we'll immediately go back to being a defensive juggernaut. I promise you, that is not the case.
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you are a very weird poster

mods should change your handle to "strawman is hard"
 
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Pointman02

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SportsingHard said:
1) How anybody looks at ND's pass coverage (in man or zone) and pass rush (when sending 4, 5, or 6 guys) and decides playcalling is the issue is beyond me. We can debate the many possible reasons why we look like the Keystone Cops, but we do know the D looks like garbage regardless of playcalling.

2) Nothing says trenchant Irish Envy analysis like declaring, nine days before the season starts, that the biggest problems with the first three games is playcalling.
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While acknowledging that the defense lost some key players, particularly in Watts and Kiser, can we all agree that coming into this season we’d have taken our defensive roster over all but 10 or 20 teams? Yet somehow this coaching staff has them playing as among the worst FBS defenses through 3 games, including giving up touchdowns to the opponents at the end of 5/5 non garbage time halves.

There is obviously a problem, and I don’t see how it could just be talent. If there is a gap between playcalling and player abilities, the only one that can be changed in a matter of days or a couple weeks is the scheme/plays. Maybe Ash and, if necessary, Freeman should figure out what their guys are good at and call that kind of game.
 
SportsingHard

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Pointman02 said:
While acknowledging that the defense lost some key players, particularly in Watts and Kiser, can we all agree that coming into this season we’d have taken our defensive roster over all but 10 or 20 teams? Yet somehow this coaching staff has them playing as among the worst FBS defenses through 3 games, including giving up touchdowns to the opponents at the end of 5/5 non garbage time halves.

There is obviously a problem, and I don’t see how it could just be talent. If there is a gap between playcalling and player abilities, the only one that can be changed in a matter of days or a couple weeks is the scheme/plays. Maybe Ash and, if necessary, Freeman should figure out what their guys are good at and call that kind of game.
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I, for one, would've rated ND's defensive roster highly in the pre-season, but probably not as high as most, and I did expect DE to be a problem in the first couple games, at minimum. Getting back on the field and being 100% are very different things, and ACL recovery is a protracted process. One problem is, particularly in the defensive backfield, we haven't been playing with anything close to that preseason roster.

In our second game, our AA corner went out with what almost everyone assumed was a season ending injury. He returned, but probably shouldn't have been out there and hasn't played since. Our 2nd corner, ranked the #44 overall player in the country or some shit by some publication, hasn't played a healthy down all season. Our nickel has missed two of three games. Our safety captain missed 4 quarters.

I certainly do not believe talent is the only problem. I don't think anybody does.

As far as what ND does well when the opponent drops back to pass, I don't think that exists right now.

Freeman's short-term focus seems to be teaching our cover guys to cover, which makes great sense to me since two of the top three are freshmen.
 
SportsingHard

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PolishDomer said:
Im sorry Sports...but when the idiot calls Prevent at end of 1st half vs Texas A&M giving them a 20 yard cushion by having the defense sit in end zone up to 20 and allowed them to complete to get to field goal range...that was egregious and was a play calling issue...it was bonkers!
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The debate at hand is whether the defense's primary problem over the first three games has been play-calling. Citing a single possession where ND was likely giving up points regardless of the plays called don't strike me as addressing the question.
 
SportsingHard

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IrishBoognish said:
you are a very weird poster

mods should change your handle to "strawman is hard"
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I'll totally credit you when you come up with a good zinger. No points for this one, however. But what I really want to know is, do you believe I'm making strawman arguments? That is, do you believe I'm misrepresenting anybody's position? If so, who might that be, and what's the position I'm misrepresenting?
 
Bane

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KMac151993 said:
So then why did Freeman bring him in? He preaches culture culture culture. Ash is what he is and yet Freeman brought him in.
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Well, brother, I have no clue. It was a head scratcher when he made the decision and it has only gotten worse.
 
IRISHDODGER

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KMac151993 said:
So then why did Freeman bring him in? He preaches culture culture culture. Ash is what he is and yet Freeman brought him in.
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My question as well. Would love to know how that interview sounded. I can’t recall, who recommended Ash when the interview process began? At best, he’s a retread. His one off was being co-DC on a NC winning team over a decade ago. I remember the same about BVG when BK brought him in. He had old ties to BVG but also hadn‘t seen any success in the college game in over a decade when he won the Broyles Award. Oh…and fuck Urban Meyer. Of course he highly endorses Ash as ND DC. POS
 
ulukinatme

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ColoradoIrish said:
Should be easy enough to sus out, someone just needs to post some shirtless pics of our players
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Stealin' mah materials!...that I rightfully stole from someone who first made the joke probably 8 years ago :laugh:



Are we sure it's Koon? Has he passed the ab test?
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BrianWalsh

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SportsingHard said:
I, for one, would've rated ND's defensive roster highly in the pre-season, but probably not as high as most, and I did expect DE to be a problem in the first couple games, at minimum. Getting back on the field and being 100% are very different things, and ACL recovery is a protracted process. One problem is, particularly in the defensive backfield, we haven't been playing with anything close to that preseason roster.

In our second game, our AA corner went out with what almost everyone assumed was a season ending injury. He returned, but probably shouldn't have been out there and hasn't played since. Our 2nd corner, ranked the #44 overall player in the country or some shit by some publication, hasn't played a healthy down all season. Our nickel has missed two of three games. Our safety captain missed 4 quarters.

I certainly do not believe talent is the only problem. I don't think anybody does.

As far as what ND does well when the opponent drops back to pass, I don't think that exists right now.

Freeman's short-term focus seems to be teaching our cover guys to cover, which makes great sense to me since two of the top three are freshmen.
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Are there many corners who can cover for five to six seconds?
 
BleedBlueGold

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What sources do you all use for opponent adjusted Team Stats? I'm not sure if what I used are adjusted.

I looked into Total Yards and Total Scoring offensive stats for ND's opponents and if they're opponent adjusted, I'll officially join the bed wetters. Most of the remaining opponents on ND's schedule are currently sitting in the top half of CFB offensively. Which means if ND continues to play like dog shit on defense, every one of those games will be a shoot out. ESPN FPI is showing ND's record predictor to be 8-4. I can easily see Ash giving up a ton of points to Arkansas and USC which both result in losses. Boston College, USC, Syracuse, Pitt, Arkansas, and Boise State are all currently Top 25 in total passing yardage. *Purdue and A&M are as well. NC State currently sitting at #30. Passing defense is ND's Achilles' heel currently. The only good news is that none of these teams really have solid defenses so ND should score at will. Doesn't bode well for my blood pressure though. Every game could come down to the wire and who has the ball last. I'm not built for a full season of that.
 
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After doing some more research here are a few more guys ND should look at right away to replace Ash.
1. Ryan Walters Washington Defensive Coordinator. Washington leads the nation in highest pressure rate without blitzing at 51.4%. Hes a young up and coming coordinator who I think would have success recruiting. He's from California has past experience as Illinois DC in 2022 he Illini defense was 2nd nationally in points allowed, 3rd in total defense, 3rd in yards per play, 1st in interceptions, and 1st in takeways. He was Purdue's head coach in 2023-2024.
2. Morgan Scalley Utah Defensive Coordinator. This one will be a hard pull as he's only coached at UTAH
 
MacIrish75

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NDFAN2008 said:
After doing some more research here are a few more guys ND should look at right away to replace Ash.
1. Ryan Walters Washington Defensive Coordinator. Washington leads the nation in highest pressure rate without blitzing at 51.4%. Hes a young up and coming coordinator who I think would have success recruiting. He's from California has past experience as Illinois DC in 2022 he Illini defense was 2nd nationally in points allowed, 3rd in total defense, 3rd in yards per play, 1st in interceptions, and 1st in takeways. He was Purdue's head coach in 2023-2024.
2. Morgan Scalley Utah Defensive Coordinator. This one will be a hard pull as he's only coached at UTAH
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IrishLax

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ulukinatme said:
So it's your assessment that losing Watts, Kiser, and Mills somehow turned out Top 10 defense into a bottom feeder and the coaching had nothing to do with it? That sounds like a serious development issue then, like fire the entire defensive staff. Guess Ash is gone either way.
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Yep, it's only requires the logic of a 4th grader to figure this out.

1. You only replaced one coach on that side of the ball.

2. You only replaced 1 out of 4 starting DBs.

So even if Xavier Watts was the second coming of Ed Reed and the new safety is Bruce Heggie that wouldn't explain dropping 100+ spots. And there is only one new coach to point the finger at.

It's not about the "calls" it's about *everything* including whack personnel usage that some position coaches / players are leaking that their arms were being twisted to do... which could be CYA but it's gotten louder every week for 3 weeks now.
 
IrishLax

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And of course you can't discount the losses of Kiser, Clark, Mills, Cross but people (rightfully) saw the team be productive for stretches where those DTs were missing / limited. And there were proven veterans to fill the void left by Kiser. Clark was the only guy being replaced by a total question mark and nickel is a part time position where there are many ways to "figure it out"
 
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FireJeffQuinn

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NDFAN2008 said:
After doing some more research here are a few more guys ND should look at right away to replace Ash.
1. Ryan Walters Washington Defensive Coordinator. Washington leads the nation in highest pressure rate without blitzing at 51.4%. Hes a young up and coming coordinator who I think would have success recruiting. He's from California has past experience as Illinois DC in 2022 he Illini defense was 2nd nationally in points allowed, 3rd in total defense, 3rd in yards per play, 1st in interceptions, and 1st in takeways. He was Purdue's head coach in 2023-2024.
2. Morgan Scalley Utah Defensive Coordinator. This one will be a hard pull as he's only coached at UTAH
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Ryan Walters? The guy who oversaw the worst defense Purdue has ever had?
 
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