New assistants and loaded depth ignite Notre Dame's defense. Defensive coordinator Chris Ash sees undeniable chemistry and championship potential.
There's was a lot of moving pieces on Notre Dame's defensive coaching staff this offseason. Defensive line coach Al Washington, linebacker's coach Max Bullough and defensive pass game coordinator and defensive back's coach Mike Mickens all departed leaving all assistant coaching positions vacant. It didn't take long for head coach Marcus Freeman and defensive coordinator Chris Ash to find more than suitable replacements.
Former Indianapolis Colts defensive line coach Charlie Partridge took over for Washington. Former Michigan linebacker's coach Brian Jean-Mary took over for Bullough and former Illinois defensive coordinator Aaron Henry took over for Mickens. All three coaches just wrapped up their first spring, and Ash is happy with how well this group gelled.
"It's a great question and I'm going to give a lot of credit to our players," Ash explained. "Back in January, I threw a challenge at them and said 'Hey, you've got to transition and it is what it is but we need to make sure that we get connected and we build a relationship.' These new coaches have coached the players the way they needed to be coached. There's a lot of excitement and a lot of enthusiasm when you get new guys that come in and coach. I've been really excited and pleased with the connection that they're making."
All three of these coaches are walking into winning situations at all three levels. Notre Dame has the best linebacking room in the country from top to bottom, they have the best secondary from top to bottom in the secondary and this is the most collegiate talent from top to bottom that Partridge has had to work with in the trenches. Ash is aware of the depth on this roster and knows it'll only get deeper as the offseason progresses.
"When everybody's healthy, we're going to have some really good depth on this team," Ash shared. "We still have some pieces that we have to develop to create some depth. We just have to go get better from the first team, second team and third team. We all have to go get better. We made some improvement here this spring in a lot of areas; a lot of individuals got better. We have to continue to work, grind and stay focused and get a lot better through training camp. It's not only with the guys that have played a lot, but we've got to create some depth and bring some young guys along."
We saw a lot of good from the Fighting Irish defense this spring, but they still have a ways to go before they're game-ready. This is a team that's poised to do some big things this season. They're the one of the favorites to win the national title, they're one of only two teams at the P4 level with their over/under win total set at 11.5 and they have a defensive coordinator in Ash heading into year two. All signs are pointing in the direction of an elite defense, but there's still work to be done over the offseason.
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