Chris "Belt To" Ash - Defensive Coordinator

[Irish#1]

Purdue's D did a reasonable job considering the lack of talent on their side of the ball. scUM will be their first true test and as NDAccountant said, playing back to back should help us.

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

USCs offense is definitely good but the sample size is rough. Carr and Altmyer (ILL) both had better days than Maiava against Purdue. Similar with Dylan Lonergan (BC) against Michigan St. Mendoza better day against Illinois, similar to Mensah (Duke).

They haven’t played a pulse on defense.

I'm invoking the James Franklin Travel Principle that SC lost to Illinois because of the jet lag.

 

[arrowryan]

Man it's frustrating that "Ash figuring it out" is just doing exactly what we had success with last year. It shouldn't have taken an entire spring and fall camp plus 10 quarters of football for him to get to that point. That should have been the starting point. Maybe I'm being unfair but I just can't give the dude any credit for taking 5 weeks to get to where we should have been day 1 of spring practice.

I think there were unfair expectations for Ash from the fanbase. I think we severely underestimated the losses of Mills, Kiser, and Watts. They had the rare ability to fix things on the fly.

I’m not giving Ash a free pass here. Ash should’ve had a better understanding of what he had in personnel. But it was unfair to think Ash would just pick up where Golden left off.

Let’s see how Ash does against NC State and USC.

 

[PutuporShutup]

I think at the end of last year, USCs offense was better than this year. Not by much. That game to me was christian Gray. He gave up so many yards, tds, penalties (until his pick 6).

I hope Moore follows Lemon around, he's their go to in the passing game. Lane last year whipped gray for 2 tds, but he's not insanely talented. So most likely Gray would be on lane again. They don't have branch this year.

Then it comes down to front 6/7 slowing down run and getting pressure.

 

[NDVirginia19]

I am of the opinion that our SOS doesn't really matter that much, but Michigan winning and breaking the spirits of USC giving them back to back losses probably makes that game less formidible. Also - I think their offense is great but not the best in football. I suspect their offensive efficiency ratings are probably ballooned by their wins over Montana State and Georgia Southern

 

[SportsingHard]

They bake in last year's stats heavily for the first few weeks and then normalize as they get deeper into the season. That's why ND is in the 50s in SP+ for defense but ranked highly in FEI right now. They don't fully punt on last year's stats until like week 8 or so.

It seems the opposite is true. I discovered FEI and its components 13 years ago, and I've never heard Brian Fremeau or anybody else claim FEI uses anything other than current year stats. However, FEI and SP+ are both complex stats that used to be hosted on the same site, so a person could be prone to conflate them. SP+ uses historical stats, recruiting info, and returning production because it's intended as a predictive statistic. This is why SP+ rankings appear in the preseason, but Fremeau waits several weeks to publish initial FEI rankings.

Currently, ND ranks 8th in 2025 opponent-adjusted defensive efficiency per DFEI.

2025 DFEI Ratings — BCF Toys

 

[Huntr]

Preseason projections don't fall out of the models until a team has played 10 FBS opponents.

 

[SportsingHard]

View attachment 3060409


Preseason projections don't fall out of the models until a team has played 10 FBS opponents.

Interesting. Thank you. Do you have a source on the ten FBS opponents? He doesn't seem to mention any of this stuff on his website.

 

[Huntr]

Interesting. Thank you. Do you have a source on the ten FBS opponents? He doesn't seem to mention any of this stuff on his website.

 

[stlnd01]

I am of the opinion that our SOS doesn't really matter that much, but Michigan winning and breaking the spirits of USC giving them back to back losses probably makes that game less formidible. Also - I think their offense is great but not the best in football. I suspect their offensive efficiency ratings are probably ballooned by their wins over Montana State and Georgia Southern

I always do love a broken USC, but Michigan's schedule is pretty soft and if they beat USC there's a strong chance they finish 10-2, which could be a problem for us down the road. I can see this one either way but on balance I'll probably have to root for the Trojans.

 

[Irish#1]

USC winning is better for us. It give scUM another loss and also strengthens USC's ratings which in turn will help when MF and company beat them.

 

[FU BK]

USC winning is better for us. It give scUM another loss and also strengthens USC's ratings which in turn will help when MF and company beat them.

I hope for a stadium implosion....cannot pull for one turd over another. Fuck both those schools

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

I want to see SC lose every week if possible. It's good for my personal strength of schedule and general overall sports well being. Watching those bastards lose to Illinois gave me more joy and relief than a thousand lying whores. My kitchen window is Vince Young in stained glass because he did the world a beautiful service in the 2006 Rose Bowl.

 

[Irish#1]

I hope for a stadium implosion....cannot pull for one turd over another. Fuck both those schools

No argument there, but one winning is better for us, right?

 

[Jimmy3Putt]

USC has at least two more losses in them after the Michigan game. We probably need them to win to stay above Michigan in the final rankings.

 

[Some Irish Bloke]

I want to see SC lose every week if possible. It's good for my personal strength of schedule and general overall sports well being. Watching those bastards lose to Illinois gave me more joy and relief than a thousand lying whores. My kitchen window is Vince Young in stained glass because he did the world a beautiful service in the 2006 Rose Bowl.

This is how I feel about scUM but I obviously live here so I'm biased.

The worst fans in all of sports. And it's not close, IMO. cheating fucks

I'll root against USC in any and all other games except for this one.

 

[NDWarrior]

I think at the end of last year, USCs offense was better than this year. Not by much. That game to me was christian Gray. He gave up so many yards, tds, penalties (until his pick 6).

I hope Moore follows Lemon around, he's their go to in the passing game. Lane last year whipped gray for 2 tds, but he's not insanely talented. So most likely Gray would be on lane again. They don't have branch this year.

Then it comes down to front 6/7 slowing down run and getting pressure.

Makai Lemon is USC's version of Miami's Malachi Toney, who had a strong day, but no Heisman performance, against ND, so hopefully that bodes well for keeping Lemon in check.

 

[GrangerIrish24]

I want USC to win but only if Michigan physically abuses them like its their first day in prison.

 

[Classic Irish]

I want to see SC lose every week if possible. It's good for my personal strength of schedule and general overall sports well being. Watching those bastards lose to Illinois gave me more joy and relief than a thousand lying whores. My kitchen window is Vince Young in stained glass because he did the world a beautiful service in the 2006 Rose Bowl.

I’d like to see USC’s campus burned to the ground so I can piss in the ashes. I loathe that school and everything about them.

 

[fightingirish26]

Besides being football rivals and Riley trying to duck the series what's the reason to hate USC? That they cheated under Carroll? Idk they always seemed like a rival born out of mutual respect, versus Michigan, which can burn for all I care.

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

I’d like to see USC’s campus burned to the ground so I can piss in the ashes. I loathe that school and everything about them.

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

Besides being football rivals and Riley trying to duck the series what's the reason to hate USC? That they cheated under Carroll? Idk they always seemed like a rival born out of mutual respect, versus Michigan, which can burn for all I care.

Yeah, the rival was born and then it grew up to be a massive cunt.

 

[Me2SouthBend]

Besides being football rivals and Riley trying to duck the series what's the reason to hate USC? That they cheated under Carroll? Idk they always seemed like a rival born out of mutual respect, versus Michigan, which can burn for all I care.

Insert Connor McGregor “who da fuck is this guy” gif.

 

[NDQuebec]

I had to scroll back a bit to make sure this was the thread about Ash. My question is: Has Ash appeared in front of the media since the start of the season? I don't remember it. If not, anybody know why? Thx

 

[ndfanatic78]

Ok. Hear ya boi out. This change in the Defenses performance. May. Just may. Have something to do with Freeman having more input after the 1st couple of games? Just speculation at this point. But it just seems to my uneducated eyes. That something has drastically changed. The guys seem to be more aggressive. Not anticipating.

Ill say this. If ND had a warm up game before playing Miami or A&M. There's a very good chance that this team is not only undefeated. But ranked #1 in the nation. Am I crazy for believing that?

Is Miami good? Ahhhh. Maybe. How about the Aggies? Same. Carr is the real deal. And hes only going to get better. You can see his knowledge of reading Defenses getting better not only game by game. But quarter by quarter. This kid can/could be special. Now I might be out over my skies some of you old heads might say. I haven't been following ND for near as long nor as far close of some of you.

So let's get started. Couple of questions for the seasoned ND fans.

Where would you rank Carr among ND QBs at this point? And why? Is he as good as Clausen? Quinn? Hell. Ill throw in Tommy Reesus too. Carr seems ultra competitive. But with all that. If that kid can focus. And not worry about when and if he makes mistakes. Ill say it. Some may not agree. But he will be very good. If not special. Kid got Moxy. And I think that he not only believes not only in himself. But the ability of those around him.

D issss looking better. Again like I said earlier. I don't think this is just Ash adjusting. I believe that either Mikens or Freeman now has input in the Defenses schemes.

Last thing. This ND offense is only gonna get better. If this D can hold up. I don't see any team being able to keep pace. Just my thoughts. Go easy fellas. Lol

Not arguing with anything you said here except I think Miami and AtM are 2 of if not the 2 best teams right now. With that being said I think ND beats both come the playoffs for all the reasons you state.

I would say CJ Is the best QB since the golden age of ND football, maybe going back to Montana who CJ is better than when he was in college. It’s kind of crazy to think about,

 

[T-Boone]

I had to scroll back a bit to make sure this was the thread about Ash. My question is: Has Ash appeared in front of the media since the start of the season? I don't remember it. If not, anybody know why? Thx

I don’t know. It would be a good thing if he is locked in his office continuing to figure everything out. He seems to be making progress. We need to hold teams to under 10 points as often as possible for the eye test.

 

[HouseofPain]

I don’t know. It would be a good thing if he is locked in his office continuing to figure everything out. He seems to be making progress. We need to hold teams to under 10 points as often as possible for the eye test.

I wonder how much this is him as opposed to MF calling a lot more defense shots

 

[GoldenBoy3]

I think at the end of last year, USCs offense was better than this year. Not by much. That game to me was christian Gray. He gave up so many yards, tds, penalties (until his pick 6).

I hope Moore follows Lemon around, he's their go to in the passing game. Lane last year whipped gray for 2 tds, but he's not insanely talented. So most likely Gray would be on lane again. They don't have branch this year.

Then it comes down to front 6/7 slowing down run and getting pressure.

Not to mention the fumble by Thomas I believe and the awful pick by Riley. Game looks much different if we don’t shoot ourselves in the foot there. Love got hurt too after having a great start in that game.

 

[NDVirginia19]

CHRIS ASH - POSSIBLE GANGSTA?

 

[Rizzophil]

He lives in South bend and his family is in Florida???