Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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8 APRIL 2025 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED BY JACK SOBLE AND TYLER HORKA C hris Ash and Ja'Juan Seider liked what they were doing before they accepted positions on Marcus Free- man's Notre Dame coaching staff. Nei- ther one of them firmly envisioned va- cating their respective posts following the 2024 football season. The former was in the scouting de- partment for the Jacksonville Jaguars. The latter would have been in his eighth season as Penn State's running backs coach if he stayed there. Freeman called both of them, though, and suddenly, where they were wasn't as enticing as where they could be — South Bend, trying to get Notre Dame back to the national championship game for the second consecutive season. Here's a little more on both coaches' decisions to accept Freeman's offers. 'IF IT'S NOT BROKE, DON'T FIX IT' Ash is entering his third decade of coaching in college and the NFL. He has been a head coach. He has coordi- nated successful defenses at multiple SEC and Big Ten schools, and he has a national championship to his name as the co-defensive coordinator at Ohio State. That's not what his tenure with the Irish will be about. "This isn't about my defense," Ash said Feb. 26 during his introductory press conference. "This is about the Notre Dame defense, and we're gonna continue to do things that Notre Dame has done on defense." Ash explained that in his conversations with Irish head coach Marcus Freeman about the job — which opened up after former defensive coordinator Al Golden left for the Cincinnati Bengals — both he and his eventual boss were on the same page. Notre Dame had finished tied for fourth in the country in scoring defense at 15.5 points allowed per game. It led the nation in passing efficiency defense with a 104.4 rating, turnovers forced with 33 and defensive touchdowns with 6. Both Freeman and Ash agreed that blowing it up and bringing in a new sys- tem would not make sense. The terminology may change with the former Texas, Wisconsin and Arkan- UNDER THE DOME RIGHT PLACE , RIGHT TIME Chris Ash and Ja'Juan Seider took calculated leaps of faith to join the Fighting Irish coaching staff Ash — who has served as a defensive coordinator at Wisconsin, Arkansas, Ohio State and Texas — plans to adapt to the Fighting Irish's scheme and culture because of how successful they've been. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS