Al Golden theory crushed by the Athletic after Chris Ash’s Notre Dame Fighting Irish defense struggles vs Miami originally appeared on The Sporting News
Would the Notre Dame Fighting Irish’s defense have fared any better against the Miami Hurricanes during their 27-24 loss at Hard Rock Stadium last Sunday if Al Golden was still in charge instead of Chris Ash?
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The Athletic’s Pete Sampson doesn’t believe the former Canes head coach, and Notre Dame’s defensive coordinator from 2022-2024, would’ve made the difference had he not bolted for the Cincinnati Bengals’ DC job this past offseason.
Sampson sees the personnel, not the defensive leadership, being a bigger problem, but didn’t ignore Ash’s issues. Sampson shouted out Jack Kiser, Xavier Watts, Rylie Mills, and Howard Cross, who Notre Dame lost in the offseason, as the real reasons why the defense has fallen off this year.
“It’s reasonable to look at the DC debut of Chris Ash and be concerned the defense might take a bigger step back than anticipated, despite returning all three position coaches and a wealth of talent at defensive end, linebacker and defensive back. The product on the field looked tentative and reactionary, not confident and attacking,” Sampson wrote.
“The flaw in the Ash defense wasn’t playing too much zone or not enough man. That split was 50/50, and Beck completed 13 of 16 pass attempts versus zone compared to just 7 of 14 versus man, although both touchdown passes came against man coverage. Notre Dame’s defensive liability wasn’t a call, it was the players not knowing how to run it well enough to win.
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“It’s not like Notre Dame never had communication issues within Golden’s defense last season. But they were limited. And when they popped up, there were enough problem solvers in the defense — that’s how Freeman described Kiser and Watts — to make it work.”
A lack of recruiting, in this case, restocking the cupboard after generational talent losses, is on Marcus Freeman. As unfair as it may seem, being in the head coaching seat in South Bend means he needs to reload every year. It’s a thankless job, even after the precipitous highs of reaching the College Football Playoff National Championship.
Ash was a good hire, bringing a championship pedigree from his days under Urban Meyer with the Ohio State Buckeyes. It just may not have been good enough to overcome the losses of several elite talents across the depth chart.
