Texas Football: Meyer says Chris Ash was top coordinator hire in the country

Texas football looks to have a rejuvenated coaching staff ready to make an immediate impact heading into the start of Big 12 play.

Former Ohio State Buckeyes and Florida Gators head coach Urban Meyer has quite a few ties to personnel on the coaching staff for the Texas football program. Texas head coach Tom Herman and recently hired defensive coordinator/safeties coach Chris Ash both have ties back to Meyer from prior coaching stops.

And Meyer had some good things to say about the Longhorns hire of the former Rutgers head coach Ash last offseason on a recent segment with the Fox Big Noon Kickoff crew. Meyer claimed on that set that he believes Ash was the “top coordinator hire” in college football this year.

High marks coming from a head coach and former colleague of Ash’s. Meyer is a two-time National Champion that found a lot of success at stops in both Gainesville and Columbus. Ash was co-defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach under Meyer’s direction at Ohio State in 2014 and 2015. The Buckeyes won a National Championship in his first year at the helm as Co-DC in Columbus, back in 2014.

Ash is a long time coach in different roles around college football. He was the Rutgers head coach for a few years, but didn’t find much success in the win column in Piscataway. Herman was able to nab a really solid hire to be the Longhorns next defensive coordinator/safeties coach after Rutgers parted ways with Ash last year.

Ash replaced former Texas defensive coordinator Todd Orlando after he spent three years with Herman on the Forty Acres. Orlando wound up landing with head coach Clay Helton and the USC Trojans as their next defensive coordinator after getting let go form the Longhorns at the conclusion of the 2019 regular season.

The results for the Longhorns in the season opener on Sep. 12 at home against the UTEP Miners were promising for Ash and his defense. Texas held UTEP to just three points in the season opening win. But the real first test will come for Ash and his defense next weekend.

Texas opens up the Big 12 slate on the road on Sep. 26 against head coach Matt Wells and the Texas Tech Red Raiders. Ash will get a tough test theoretically this coming weekend against quarterback Alan Bowman and this high-powered Texas Tech offense.