Skip to main content
notre-dame logo

‘No need to overhaul’ – Tim Hyde backs Chris Ash’s defensive plan at Notre Dame

Singer headshotby:Mike Singer•about 18 hours•

MikeTSinger

chris ash-4
Notre Dame defensive coordinator Chris Ash, then the head coach at Rutgers. (Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images)

Notre Dame has had quite the run of defensive coordinators the past several years. Mike Elko had a strong year for the Irish in 2017 before leaving for the same position at Texas A&M, and he was replaced by Clark Lea, who thrived in the role for a few seasons and became Vanderbilt’s head coach in 2021.

Marcus Freeman was the Irish’s defensive coordinator for a season in 2021 before becoming head coach, and he made a fantastic hire when he brought in Al Golden to run the defense for three years. Golden is now the defensive coordinator with the Cincinnati Bengals.

Freeman’s second defensive coordinator hire at Notre Dame — former Rutgers head coach Chris Ash —was similar to bringing in Golden. Both have head coaching experience at the college level, spent plenty of time in the NFL and are in their 50s.

And in Ash’s first interview with the local Notre Dame media, he was clear that he didn’t plan on making wholesale changes to how the Irish defense will operate.

“I’m here to adjust to them — the staff, the players, the scheme, the whole overall culture of the organization,” Ash said. “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.”

This thought is something he spoke about on two other occasions during his press conference to hammer the point home.

“If it’s not broke, don’t fix it,” Ash also said Feb. 26. “And that was really the conversation that Coach Freeman and I had about this situation. There has been really good football played on defense. There’s been standards. There’s been accountability. They’ve been well-coached. Conceptually, we’re gonna keep doing a lot of the same things that have been done here. Terminology may change a little bit. Some fundamentals may change a little bit, but at the end of the day, the way Notre Dame has played defense is the way Notre Dame is gonna play defense in the future.”

Tim Hyde reacts to Ash’s comments

During a Blue & Gold live YouTube show Tuesday night, Blue & Gold football analyst Tim Hyde discussed Ash’s comments about keeping the continuity on defense.

“There’s no need to overhaul,” Hyde said. “Every new coordinator will make some tweaks — whatever those are … He’s not going to come in and run Bob Diaco’s 3-4 and play quarters and keep everything in front of you every snap. Notre Dame has run who can run, cover, has push rushers and an army of linebackers. So no, I wouldn’t expect mass changes.”

And it makes sense for Freeman to make a hire that’s similar to what he had with Golden. As Ash noted, it’s not broke, so no need to fix anything.

“His experience as a defensive backs coach is huge with the concepts they want to run,” added Hyde. “There’s nothing to throw out and change. I’m not expecting giant changes; you’ll see a four-man front. You’ll see nickel and dime.

“All of those things will keep moving forward, and Notre Dame will keep having a damn good defense.”

You may also like