Former Rutgers head coach Chris Ash reportedly has emerged as the focus of the search for according to 
Football Scoop and The Athletic. Ash, 51, spent this season as a scout for the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars and last served as a college coordinator in 2020 at Texas
Fickell went on to coach at Cincinnati, hiring future Irish coach Marcus Freeman as defensive coordinator in 2017. Fickell is now head coach at Wisconsin, where Ash coached defensive backs on three straight Rose Bowl teams (2010-12) and ran the defense for two years.
Irish offensive line coach Joe Rudolph worked with Ash in Madison for two seasons, coaching tight ends.
A native of Ottumwa, Iowa who attended Drake University, Ash followed former Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema to Arkansas as defensive coordinator in 2013, going 3-9 with the Razorbacks.
Like Golden, who returned last week to the NFL’s Cincinnati Bengals after three seasons running the Irish defense, Ash had to overcome a disappointing tenure at the helm of a college program. In three-plus seasons at Rutgers 2016-19 Ash’s teams went 8-32 and lost 26 of 29 games in the Big Ten Conference.