Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM MARCH 2026 21 became more consistent, disciplined, and confident in coverage." Henry, according to Bucshon, has the relationship-building and talent-de- veloping acumen that Freeman covets in his assistants. "Players could tell right away he'd been in their shoes," Bucshon said. "He played for [Illinois head coach] Bret Bielema at Wisconsin, was a first-team All-Big Ten defensive back, started 32 games from 2007-11, and was part of teams that won back-to-back Big Ten titles and played in the Rose Bowl. "That experience gave him instant credibility, and he backed it up with a calm, steady approach and an ability to teach the small details. He has a tem- perament and personality that connects with players and passion for the game that is contagious." Henry's defensive backs coach for his final two seasons at Wisconsin was Ash, who also gave him his first full- time coaching job as Rutgers' defensive backs coach in 2016. He later coached for North Carolina State — under Ash's close friend, Dave Doeren — and Vanderbilt before settling in Cham- paign, Ill. Freeman gave Ash significant leeway to build his staff in Year 2, with Henry and defensive line coach Charlie Par- tridge. Partridge was Ash's roommate in college at Drake, and they coached together at Wisconsin and Arkansas. He n ry w i l l a l so b e No t re Dame's co-defensive coordina- tor, a tag whose meaning can vary from team to team. He comes with experience as Illinois' DC from 2023-25, replacing Ryan Walters, though the results there were underwhelming. The Il- lini ranked 93rd, 31st and 57th in scoring defense, respectively, over Henry's three years at the helm. "In hindsight, the move came a bit too fast," Bucshon said. At the time of his promotion, Henry was the Big Ten's young- est defensive coordinator. "This past year included some ugly moments, most notably a 63-10 blowout loss to eventual national champion Indiana and another rough performance in a loss at Washington," Bucshon said. "As those results piled up, the calls for change grew louder." It's important to separate Henry's time as a coordinator from his accom- plishments as a position coach. His move to Notre Dame was likely the best option for all parties — including Henry, who gets a fresh start and a chance to focus on what he does best. He also inherits the best defensive back personnel in college football, which includes Moore and three other returning starters: senior cornerback Christian Gray, redshirt junior safety Adon Shuler and redshirt sophomore safety Tae Johnson. JEAN-MARY BRINGS ACE RECRUITER REPUTATION TO SOUTH BEND As long as Freeman remains the head coach in South Bend, Notre Dame can expect to be strong at linebacker. Freeman is a linebackers coach by trade, and he was an All-Big Ten line- backer himself at Ohio State. He re- mains intimately involved in linebacker development with the Irish, often to a surprising extent. "He'll get in the drills and put the pads on," former Notre Dame linebacker Jack Kiser told Blue & Gold Illustrated in January 2025. "Coach Max [Bullough] will be doing a drill, and we need an- other body. He'll throw on a chest pad and let us really hit him." Bullough left for Michigan State, his alma mater, in December. Washington was set to replace him, but he left as well. As a result, Freeman tabbed Jean-Mary to lead the position he knows best in 2026. Jean-Mary is well traveled, with line- backers coach stops at Georgia Tech, Louisville, Texas, South Florida, Mich- igan, Tennessee and Michigan again. The Wolverines' linebacker room was among the deepest in college football in 2025. Jimmy Rolder, Ernest Haus- mann, Cole Sullivan, Troy Bowles and Jaishawn Barham combined for 244 tackles, 10 sacks, 7 passes defended and 3 forced fumbles. But Jean-Mary's best trait, according to Jackets Online publisher Kelly Quin- lan (who covered him at Georgia Tech) is his acumen as a recruiter. "He was always willing to step in and fight other big programs," Quinlan told BGI, "He had intense recruiting battles with Clemson right when Dabo Swin- ney got there. The kids really like his personality. He's still close with guys he recruited but didn't sign in some cases." More recently, Jean-Mary recruited blue-chip linebacker Nathaniel Owusu- Boateng to Michigan in the 2025 class. Owusu-Boateng is the brother of for- mer Notre Dame linebacker Jer- emiah Owusu-Koramoah and the Irish were heavily involved, but he chose Jean-Mary and the Wolverines. "The M.O. for him has been relationships — getting them to believe in him and buy what he's selling," Quinlan said. "He turns over every leaf when it comes to the relationship aspect. He's not afraid to be involved with cousins or whoever in the family to win over and land a prospect. That says a lot." While the coaching carousel isn't quite dead yet — the last NFL coaching hires are still fill- ing out their staffs — Notre Dame isn't expected to lose any more coaches at this time. Freeman's staff is set as he enters a year with championship expectations. ✦ Tyler James and Mike Singer also contrib- uted to this story. Jackets Online, a Georgia Tech site, publisher Kelly Quinlan praised Jean-Mary's recruiting efforts: "He was always willing to step in and fight other big programs. … The kids really like his personality." PHOTO COURTESY MICHIGAN ATHLETICS