SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Notre Dame needs a new defensive coordinator and a new general manager. It has roster turnover to manage, with a half-dozen players going into the portal. And it has a different level of expectations under Marcus Freeman after that run to the national championship game.
You’ve got questions about all of that. Let’s get started.
Who might Marcus Freeman have interest in making the new defensive coordinator? — Daniel I.
Former Rutgers head coach Chris Ash has emerged as a strong candidate to become Notre Dame’s next defensive coordinator. While the deal is not complete, it’s expected Mike Mickens would stay on as defensive backs coach, potentially with some elevated title.
The backstory on Ash feels somewhat Al Golden-esque after Ash spent the past three seasons working as an NFL position coach/scout with the Raiders and Jaguars, with defensive back his area of expertise. Ash had a three-plus-year run as head coach at Rutgers, which was disastrous: 8-32 overall and 3-26 in the Big Ten. He was fired four games into the 2018 season following a 52-0 loss to Michigan. Does that head coaching experience matter to Freeman? It did with Golden, who thrived at Temple before flaming out at Miami. Although Freeman is a much different head coach now than he was back then, the experience probably still matters.
Ash also has defensive coordinator experience at Ohio State, Texas, Arkansas and Wisconsin, where he overlapped with Notre Dame offensive line coach Joe Rudolph (2010-12). That’s the biggest differentiator from Mickens, who has no coordinator experience regardless of how well he’s performed coaching defensive backs. Freeman has prioritized “been there, done that” at coordinator and has been burned when he doesn’t have it. Ash has it, even if some of that experience came during heavy defeats.
Former Wisconsin defensive coordinator and current Denver Broncos assistant coach Jim Leonhard also is a candidate, as is Michigan State defensive coordinator Joe Rossi, who was an option for Notre Dame the last time this job came up. Indiana defensive coordinator Bryant Haines, who just signed a new contract in Bloomington, was a potential option, but that possibility appears to have faded.
It’s hard to get a read on Ash from a distance, but Urban Meyer thinks highly of his former assistant coach. And Freeman thinks highly of Meyer’s opinion.
I’m curious if you could shed any light on the Rocco Spindler and Pat Coogan transfers. I was surprised to see them in the portal. The Irish have had three interior offensive linemen enter the portal now with Sam Pendleton heading to Tennessee. Is that position a concern next year? — Adam S.
These transfers are mostly indicative of where college football roster management is today rather than a signal of concern for Notre Dame’s offensive line. Coogan and Spindler were great stories this season, but they were likely to be backups next season. Notre Dame should have a starting line next season of Charles Jagusah, Billy Schrauth, Ashton Craig, Anthonie Knapp and Aamil Wagner, barring a surprise push from Guerby Lambert. For the sake of discussion, let’s just consider this group to be Notre Dame’s top six offensive linemen going into spring practice. I don’t think Spindler or Coogan would have cracked that top six. Same story with Pendleton. The best part of that top six for Notre Dame is also the worst part for somebody like Pendleton … because all six could return in 2026.
Spindler and Coogan had to leave if they wanted an honest shot at playing time in their final seasons. Pendleton could have been stuck on the bench for two more years at Notre Dame. Now he’ll be a starter at Tennessee.
I love this place and this brotherhood.
Thank you, Notre Dame ☘️ pic.twitter.com/a6JGcOAhzF— Pat Coogan (@coogs53) January 23, 2025
It’s very rare for a younger player to beat out an older one on the offensive line, and if Joe Alt and Blake Fisher had returned last season, we might view this position differently going into the spring. Instead, Notre Dame looks like it’s set to have a very talented starting offensive line next season with a potential Joe Moore Award-winning offensive line two years from now.
In an ideal world, returning Coogan would have been ideal from a leadership and depth perspective. He could have been a captain and Notre Dame’s first man off the bench at center and both guard spots. And this season was a case study in how much that kind of quality depth matters. But this season, at least nationally, was evidence of how rare that kind of depth actually is. Notre Dame was blessed to have it during its run to the national championship game. Now it’s going to have to live a little bit more like everybody else in terms of quality depth. At least in terms of starting talent, it would be hard to do much better than what Freeman has assembled.
Receivers Jayden Thomas and Deion Colzie also entered the transfer portal last week, as did reserve offensive lineman Ty Chan. While Coogan and Spindler could have helped Notre Dame next season, even if it was in a reserve capacity, it’s not clear the others would have. Thomas did have a strong contribution during the Playoff, however.
GO DEEPER
Inside Notre Dame’s training and recovery amid the longest season in school history
Why did general manager Chad Bowden leave for USC … in addition to the typical boilerplate comments? – Anonymous
It’s always good to make $1 million to run a recruiting operation, which Bowden will be doing in Los Angeles. More power to him.
The more I dig into Bowden’s departure, the more it seems something like this was going to happen sooner than later. Bowden was excellent at making prospects feel comfortable around Notre Dame, a place that can sometimes feel stiff. He did excellent work helping Notre Dame find talent in the portal. But the role of general manager is not the same as recruiting coordinator. There are budgets to balance and hard decisions to make. There’s a different skill set required.
It’s worth acknowledging that Notre Dame’s recruiting still needs work. The Irish may be loaded at offensive line and tight end, which has been true for decades. They’ve developed defensive backs incredibly well, but that’s a credit to Mickens. The linebacker room may be as good as it’s been in more than a decade, mostly a nod to Freeman, Golden and Max Bullough.
Notre Dame finished with two top-10 classes in Bowden’s four full cycles, per 247Sports. Notre Dame finished with two top-10 classes in the four cycles before Bowden arrived, too. The Irish didn’t sign a five-star prospect in the 247 Sports Composite during the past four cycles, although Bryce Young, Jaylen Sneed and Will Black were all five-stars according to at least one outlet.
Has Notre Dame recruiting improved with Bowden leading the department? Yes. Does it need to take another step? Also yes. It’s hard to watch the Ohio State game and not believe that.
Bottom line, if Notre Dame wanted to match Bowden’s salary at USC, it could have. It chose not to.
GO DEEPER
USC hires Notre Dame’s Chad Bowden as general manager
What if Notre Dame made that field goal? — Pete G.
I love this question. Yes, Ohio State was clearly the better team. The Buckeyes deserved to win. But, moments in that second half gave me John L. Smith at Michigan State in 2006 vibes. You know how that one ended.
To refresh the situation from last week (how was that game only a week ago?), Mitch Jeter doinked a 27-yard field goal with 9:27 to play and Ohio State leading 31-15. Do the Buckeyes shut down their offense as emphatically if Jeter makes it? Considering it still would have been a two-score game, that feels like a safe bet. After the Jeter miss, Ohio State went five plays and 19 yards before its first (and only) punt of the game. That drive included four consecutive runs before Will Howard missed Jeremiah Smith on third down in a ball-don’t-lie incompletion when Gee Scott Jr. blocked Christian Gray with a moving screen that wasn’t called.
Let’s pretend Notre Dame gets the ball back down 31-18 and then its six-play, 80-yard drive unfolds just like it did, ending in a Jaden Greathouse touchdown. It’s 31-25 because going for a two-point conversion wouldn’t be necessary. Does Ohio State call that final drive any differently, knowing Notre Dame needs just a touchdown and extra point to take the lead instead of a touchdown and two-point conversion to tie?
Feels like a safe bet that the pressure on Ohio State would have been more intense. And maybe that makes Chip Kelly think twice about the deep shot to Smith on third-and-11. The hunch is Ohio State still figures out how to win the game, but the temperature inside Mercedes-Benz Field would have gone up a couple of degrees.
GO DEEPER
Where do Notre Dame, Marcus Freeman go after loss to Ohio State?
Who fits these four categories:
1. The starting quarterback next year will be:
2. The offensive breakout player next year will be:
3. The defensive breakout player next year will be:
4. The defensive coordinator next year will be:
– Ryan F.
1. CJ Carr
2. Jaden Greathouse
3. Boubacar Traore
4. Chris Ash
A lot has been made about how Notre Dame gets to keep all $20 million in Playoff “prize money” to itself, whereas all the Power 4 conference teams have to split it. Two questions: a) What can/will Notre Dame actually use this money for? Does it just go into the general athletic fund as if it was just more NBC money, or can the football program specifically use it for nebulous NIL purposes? b) Let’s say this happens three out of the next four years, where Notre Dame takes home $10-20 million from the CFP as an independent — how seriously would other schools look into going independent in football? – Ross S.
Good question, although I don’t have an answer just yet.
When Notre Dame had a similar deal in the BCS era — it kept roughly $13 million when it made the Fiesta Bowl in Charlie Weis’ debut season — the money went back to the university. But that was before NIL and before coaching salaries had spiraled to current levels of $10 million head coaches and $2 million coordinators. The most straightforward approach might be to take the $20 million earned from the CFP and use it to fill the $20.5 million budget hole if/when revenue sharing becomes reality following the House settlement. Notre Dame plans to hit that cap, according to athletic director Pete Bevacqua.
As for the potential of other programs leaning into independence because of Notre Dame’s economic advantages, those are about to change. Per multiple reports, when the CFP deal moves to new terms in 2026, Notre Dame will take in roughly $12 million from the CFP, whether it makes the field of not. It can add about $6 million when it does make the 12-team field (or 14-team field). Considering the money made from conference media deals in the Big Ten and SEC, it wouldn’t make much sense for those schools to extricate themselves from those financial windfalls for the sake of CFP bonuses. Notre Dame’s deal with NBC falls between the SEC and Big Ten in revenue generation, per industry sources, although the exact number is unknown.
Notre Dame has a great deal now with the CFP. It will have a very good deal starting after next season. But nobody else in the sport is getting that kind of contract.
Back in the day, the late Lou Somogyi wrote an article in Blue & Gold Illustrated about the realistic expectations for Notre Dame football. It was something like one national title every decade, three major bowl wins, etc. What’s reasonable now in the new CFP era during the next decade? – David S.
Let’s adjust for inflation, so to speak, comparing eras of expectations. Winning a national title then is the same as winning a national title now. Winning a major bowl game then is like making the Final Four now. Making an old New Year’s Six bowl then is qualifying for the CFP now.
Do we count this season as one where Notre Dame won two major bowl games because it beat Georgia and Penn State? I think so. It means winning games in the CFP have to be viewed in shades other than black and white. Does Penn State feel like it made a run by beating Boise State and SMU? Does Texas feel like beating Clemson and Arizona State was a successful year? Or conversely, what if Notre Dame beat Indiana and Georgia but lost to Penn State? Would that still feel like a successful season? Pretty sure it does.
Again, lots of gray.
If we’re playing the expectations game with Notre Dame, this is how I’d arbitrarily set them for the next 10 years. (Feel free to disagree!):
- National championship: 1
- Lose in the national championship game: 1
- Lose in the semifinals: 2
- Lose in the quarterfinals: 3
- Lose in the first round: 1
- Miss the CFP: 2
You probably looked at this list and saw the word “lose” too often. But if Freeman hit the marks listed above, that would give him a CFP record of 14-7 with a national title and the Irish having made the Final Four every other season. And that doesn’t account for this season’s run through the CFP being part of it.
There’s going to be an expectation adjustment for fans in the 12-team era that might not go down easily. In the past, only three teams in the CFP ended with a loss. Now 11 will. And soon, that number might be 13. Notre Dame won’t be immune to any of that. But neither will Ohio State, Alabama, Clemson, Texas, LSU or anybody else.
GO DEEPER
Notre Dame final thoughts: Irish made plenty of memories on run to championship game
(Top photo of Marcus Freeman: Carmen Mandato / Getty Images)
