'I've Been Loved And I've Been Hated': Chris Ash Just Focused on the Work

Following Notre Dame’s win against Purdue on Sept. 20, the Irish defense was still a shell of its former self, and after three poor performances, Marcus Freeman held an “uncomfortable” meeting with the staff. 

“We have to do that and that's what we spent a lot of time doing yesterday as a defensive staff,” Freeman explained. “It's not a comfortable meeting and I didn't want it to be comfortable.” 

At that point in time, defensive coordinator Chris Ash was probably the most hated man in South Bend. From many perspectives, he had ruined a national champion caliber defense and Notre Dame’s pursuit to get back to that stage. 

Well ever since that moment, the Irish defense has taken multiple steps forward every week, changing from the team’s achilles’ heel to one of its greatest strengths. From holding one of the nation’s most talented quarterbacks in Arkansas’ Taylen Green at bay to forcing seven turnovers in the last two weeks — the defense has seemingly reached a level that many thought impossible just four weeks ago. 

But for Ash, that “uncomfortable” meeting actually wasn’t all that uncomfortable, and there wasn’t some massive realization that changed how his defense performed. 

They just went to work. 

"We worked,” Ash said. “That's it. When we started the season, we didn't execute or play the way we wanted to play up to the standards that the players, and we have as a staff. There's no magical thing that changed, we just had to continue to work; continue to practice. 

“The biggest thing is probably just the consistency, you know? We got better upfront, we got better at linebacker, we eliminated some explosive plays at DB and you put all of those things together it's a better product." 

In fact he doesn’t even see many differences in how his squad operates today and how they were when they allowed 41 points to Texas A&M at home. 

“I mean, I knew we were going to have to put a lot of work in when we started training camp,” Ash said. “That's all we've done, nothing's changed. We put in work during training camp, we put in work since the games have started. We put in work today. Every day we just have to go to work and continue to try to be better every single day in our meetings, our walk throughs, our practice. The belief and the confidence and the togetherness of this group has really allowed us to do it." 

Despite the poor performances in the box score, Ash still believed that his defense was playing good football. It was the explosive plays that were killing any momentum they may have shown during the week at practice. It also didn’t help that his secondary was riddled with injuries, most notably missing Leonard Moore. 

“There was a lot of good football that was played in those games,” Ash said. “It was inconsistent though. When you give up explosive plays, you're not going to get the results that you want.

“I didn't let five plays that popped up overshadow all the good plays that did happen. We just had to work on it. In the Purdue game, we started three new players in the secondary. So we just had to focus on the positives, keep building on them and try to eliminate some of the negative things that had happened." 

Freeman and Ash both agreed on one thing as the defense was struggling — it wasn’t the calls that were the problem, it was the execution of the calls. A big part in turning things around has simply been making calls that Ash knows the defense can execute, and staying away from those he doesn’t firmly believe they are ready for. 

“I think that's the art of coaching to be able to do that,” Ash said. “It's not about me; none of it is about me. It's about what they can do and I always have to evaluate that. Like, it happens every week. Another coach may really like a call, we may work it but at some point, is it going to be game ready and can they do it? We have to make the decision that we're not going to do it or continue to push through it." 

Ash’s defense will have another big test Saturday against a talented USC offense. No matter what happens, it doesn’t appear Ash will get too high or too low — he’ll just keep working. 

"Just keep working,” Ash said. “That's it. The only way you're gonna end up getting the results that you want is everybody stays together, everybody works together, everybody continues to come in with the same mindset, same approach and that's it. 

“Again, this isn't my first rodeo, I've been doing this a long time. I've been loved and I've been hated; I've won and I've lost.”