Freeman Points to Execution, But Chris Ash’s Defense is the Real Problem

Marcus Freeman wants you to believe Notre Dame’s defensive struggles are about execution. After back-to-back weeks of its once proud defense getting gashed, Freeman repeated the same refrain: “No, it’s not the call, it’s the execution. I’ve always believed that.” But the reality is staring the Irish in the face — Chris Ash’s defense is broken, and it’s the reason Notre Dame is 0–2.

From Championship Standard to Rock Bottom

One year ago, Notre Dame was in the National Championship Game because of its defense. Al Golden’s unit gave up just 16.8 points per game, dominated in the trenches, and set the tone for a team that bullied its way to the playoffs. Golden’s departure opened the door for Freeman’s most important hire, and he chose Ash.

Two games into the 2025 season, the defense looks nothing like the standard Golden left behind. The Irish have allowed 68 points and over 800 yards of offense to Miami and Texas A&M. Opponents are averaging over seven yards per play, hitting explosive plays at will, and scoring with alarming ease.

That’s not just an execution problem. That’s a design problem.

Torched Through the Air

Against Texas A&M, Notre Dame’s secondary was humiliated. Marcel Reed completed just 17 passes but racked up 360 yards and two touchdowns. Aggie receiver Mario Craver turned seven catches into 207 yards, including an 86-yard touchdown that exposed the Irish coverage and poor tackling fundamentals that didn’t exist a year ago.

The Irish didn’t just lose one-on-one battles — they were consistently put in bad positions. Zone coverages left wideouts running free, blitz calls failed to land, and the front never got home. Notre Dame finished with zero sacks, just two tackles for loss, and four quarterback hurries the entire night. The Irish defense has one single sack so far this season.

“We get beat with an explosive play because we bring six and we’re playing zone behind it,” Freeman admitted. “Quarterback extends a play. You’ve got to be very strategic in terms of rush and coverage work together.”

That’s not an execution issue. That’s a coordinator dialing up calls that don’t fit the moment and players lost in coverage a year after it was nearly impossible to throw deep on the Irish defense.

Perhaps the most puzzling call by Ash came in the second half with Texas A&M in third and long when he sent his best defensive back, Leonard Moore, on a poorly designed blitz that had no chance of getting home. The result was an easy pitch and catch for Reed and a conversion for A&M. Christain Gray has been repeatedly targeted by opposing offenses this year while Moore has been the lone bright spot. Ash thought it was a good idea to blitz his lockdown corner, leaving defenders who have been exposed this season seems nonsensical.

A Pattern, Not an Outlier

Week one against Miami was no different. Missed tackles and blown assignments were everywhere, but so were head-scratching alignments and passive play calls that let the Hurricanes dictate tempo. Two games in, the Irish defense is giving up 41 points per game — more than double last year’s average.

For a unit built on continuity and returning talent, the steep decline points directly at the change at the top. Chris Ash was hired to sustain success, but instead his defense has unraveled.

The Wrong Target for Blame

Freeman can say it’s about execution all he wants, but the tape and stats tell another story. Notre Dame has seemingly forgotten how to tackle and cover receivers. The problem is systemic, and it flows from the coordinator.

Freeman was bluntly asked if he is considering making changes as to who calls the defensive plays and was quick to defend Ash.

“No. No, it’s not the call, it’s the execution,” Freeman said. “And I’ve always believed that. I think sometimes calling things, I’ve been a play caller, at times, can be overrated as much as it’s the execution of that play call,” he explained.

“And so that’s what we got to evaluate. You know, maybe we’ll look and say we probably shouldn’t have called this in that situation. Those are things you always look at, but at the end of the day, why aren’t we able to execute in a way that we believe we need to and should? That’s the question that we’ve got to get answered.”

But when opponents are marching up and down the field with explosive plays, when your team can only muster a single sack across two games, and when receivers are wide open on critical downs, that’s not about players just executing poorly. That’s about a scheme that isn’t working.

Altering the Program’s Trajectory

The risk for Notre Dame is bigger than just two early losses. The Irish entered 2025 as a playoff favorite, buoyed by the momentum of last year’s championship run. Now, at 0–2, the season already feels like it’s teetering because Freeman hitched the program to the wrong defensive coordinator.

Fans know it, too. Message boards are already full of calls for Ash to be replaced. Comparisons to Brian VanGorder are surfacing, and the frustration isn’t going away unless the Irish defense finds answers immediately.

The Bottom Line

Marcus Freeman may want to shield his defensive coordinator, but at some point, the responsibility falls on Chris Ash. This isn’t just about missed tackles or blown assignments. This is about a defense that was once elite now looking completely lost — and it starts with the man calling the plays.