SOUTH BEND — Notre Dame football coach Marcus Freeman didn’t exactly give new defensive coordinator Chris Ash a public vote of confidence with the Irish off to an 0-2 start, but Freeman made sure there was a sense of shared responsibility.
“Whose defense is it? It’s our defense,” Freeman said at his Monday news conference ahead of Saturday’s home game against unranked Purdue. “It’s Notre Dame football. It’s mine. Head coach. It’s no one person’s fault. It’s ours.”
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Coming off a 41-40 loss to Texas A&M, dropping No 21 Notre Dame to 1-3 in home openers under Freeman, the Irish have sagged to the bottom quartile of the 136-team FBS level in a slew of categories.
Among them: pass coverage (129th), pass rush (113th), tackling (tied for 103rd), special teams (tied for 121st), pass blocking (125th) and run blocking (107th).
Those PFF grades are unofficial, but the national ranks give an indication of just how far off their typical standard the Irish have fallen.
Ash’s defense, in particular, is mostly flailing. The Irish rank 118th in scoring defense (34.0 per game) after opening with a pair of traditional powers currently ranked in the top 10 of the coaches and media polls.
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On third-down conversions allowed, the Irish defense is tied for 53rd at 33% (8 of 24).
Asked if he might spend more time on the defensive side, where he made his reputation during previous stints at Purdue (2013-16), Cincinnati (2017-20) and Notre Dame (2021), Freeman didn’t rule it out.
“As a head coach, as a leader, it’s important to wear the hat that is necessary in that moment,” Freeman said. “No matter if it’s offense, defense, special teams, recruiting, anything. I spend a lot of time with our defense. That’s obviously where my background is, and I’ll continuously do it.
“Will I spend more time? Maybe. If that’s what’s necessary, I will. I’ll spend more time there. I’m going to do whatever it takes to make sure we improve and we have a performance that we believe is the standard of Notre Dame football.”
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Similar struggles for Chris Ash’s defense in 2020 at Texas
Ash, 51, was hired in February to replace Broyles Award winner Al Golden after the latter returned to the NFL’s Cincinnati Bengals following three seasons in South Bend. Ash spent the last four seasons as an NFL assistant coach or scout, and this is the first time he’s run a college defense since 2020 at Texas.
The Longhorns went 7-3 in the COVID-19 season, finishing with PFF national ranks of 111th in tackling, 82nd in pass coverage, 27th in pass rush and tie for 14th in run defense. Coach Tom Herman was fired after the season, which saw Texas rank 61st in scoring defense (28.5 points per game).
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Against then-Power Five competition, Ash’s defense allowed 31.1 points per game, including five games with 31-plus points allowed. In fairness, three of those games went to overtime: at Texas Tech (56 points), at Oklahoma State (34 points) and vs. Oklahoma (53-45 loss in four overtimes).
Texas Christian (33 points) and Kansas State (31) also had no issues scoring against Texas that year.
“The overall output, I guess, is what you see that’s different,” Freeman said of the Irish defense. “It’s not the structure of the defense. It’s the execution of what we’re asking our guys to do.
“There are some new players that we have to get to the point that they can execute what we’re asking them to do. but I don’t think you’re seeing a big change in terms of the structure, of the tactical aspect of how we’re playing defense.”
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Insider: How Notre Dame defense went from Golden to Ash in 0-2 start
Multiple players off last year’s defense have moved on to the NFL: All-America safety Xavier Watts, cornerback Benjamin Morrison, linebacker Jack Kiser, defensive tackle Rylie Mills, nose tackle Howard Cross III and nickelback Jordan Clark.
Ash also has incorporated more zone defense into the Irish game plan, which has resulted in just one interception (by Leonard Moore against A&M) through two games. Less blitzing, a Golden trademark, has led to just one sack (Boubacar Traore’s vs. Miami) and little pressure to affect quarterbacks Carson Beck and Marcel Reed.
“Whoever’s in front of you, they shouldn’t ever be able to catch a ball on you if you play the right technique and execute your assignment,” Moore said after the loss to the Aggies. “It starts with taking pride in our work going forward. Every day we have to come ready to work. It’s a business. There’s no more going to practice trying to have fun. We have to take care of our business now.”
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Mike Berardino covers Notre Dame football for the South Bend Tribune and NDInsider.com. Follow him on social media @MikeBerardino.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Notre Dame football defense: Can Marcus Freeman help Chris Ash turn it around?
