Notre Dame football offensive line coach Joe Rudolph worked with Chris Ash at Wisconsin for two seasons, coaching tight ends.

Once the Ohio State Buckeyes co-coordinator during its 2014 National Championship run, Ash since led Rutgers as its head coach before moving on to Texas and the NFL’s Jaguars and Raiders.

The Cincinnati Bengals’ defensive coaching staff is starting to take shape under new defensive coordinator Al Golden.

Notre Dame is working on a deal to bring Chris Ash in as the Fighting Irish's new defensive coordinator, per ESPN's Pete Thamel. Ash replaces ex-Notre Dame

Al Golden accomplished a ton in three years at Notre Dame but now the Irish must replace him as he's on his way back to the NFL. Who might they find to do that

Notre Dame is set to hire former Rutgers head coach Chris Ash as its next defensive coordinator, replacing Al Golden.

Al Golden knows that Notre Dame needs to be at its best defensively on Monday to take down Ohio State's aerial threat.

Co-defensive coordinator with Luke Fickell for Ohio State’s 2014 national champions, Chris Ash helped coach Urban Meyer’s Buckeyes go 26-2 in 2014-15.

Golden should have an advantage over a lot of other defensive coordinator candidates in this department. He coached against 19 different ranked teams in three seasons as Notre Dame's defensive coordinator.

“Sources: Chris Ash has accepted the job as the Notre Dame’s new defensive coordinator,” Pete Thamel said in a post. “Ash brings a blend of coordinating experience, NFL experience and high-end results as a collegiate coordinator. A deal is expected to be finalized in the near future.”

Al Golden agreed to return to Cincinnati on Wednesday after three seasons as Notre Dame's defensive coordinator, a person with knowledge of the decision told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the decision has not been announced. More: 3 Wolverines, 3 ex-Spartans make ESPN list of top 100 college football players from '24-25