College football insider Greg McElroy believes that hiring Chris Ash as the program’s new defensive coordinator was the right call for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
While appearing on the popular “Always College Football” show on YouTube, McElroy discussed a variety of topics, including the insight Ash could bring to the Fighting Irish from his long coaching career and how he compared to former defensive coordinator Al Golden.
What Did Greg McElroy Say About Chris Ash?
Ash spent parts of the past four years in the NFL with the Jacksonville Jaguars and Las Vegas Raiders in a variety of defensive roles. Prior to that, he had a long and successful coaching career at the college level, including as the defensive coordinator of the Texas Longhorns and the head coach of the Rutgers Scarlet Knights.
McElroy made clear that he thought that Ash was a strong replacement for the departing Golden.
“I really like this play from Marcus Freeman,” McElroy said. “You never want to lose Al Golden. Right, Al Golden, the defensive coordinator, was there for three years. Did an amazing job. He now gets hired by the Cincinnati Bengals and Al Golden, they would not have competed for the national championship last year if it wasn’t for the coaching that Al Golden brought to that team. He was amazing.”
“It feels like Chris Ash is very comparable to Al Golden. He’s thoughtful, he’s been around the NFL, he’s going to implement an NFL style to their defense, and I think he’s a guy that will blend really well with the culture that’s already been created by Marcus Freeman,” McElroy continued.
Notre Dame Fighting Irish 2025 Preview
The Fighting Irish are expected to remain one of the best teams in college football next season. Not only will head coach Marcus Freeman be returning, but the team is also expecting to have numerous key players return next campaign as well.
As a result, though it is always tough to predict this far out from the season, it appears as though Notre Dame has a strong chance to continue building off of their fantastic campaign this past year.
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However, the defensive unit will be an adjustment without Golden calling the plays. Notre Dame only gave up 15.5 points per game this past season, a number tied for fourth best in the nation. Golden is departing to the NFL and will be the defensive coordinator of the Cincinnati Bengals.
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