New Arkansas football coach Bret Bielema has made his first staff hire. His defensive coordinator at Wisconsin, Chris Ash, will join him at Arkansas.
“I am excited to welcome Chris to our staff,” Coach Bielema said. “In the last three years working together, I gained a great respect for the way Chris teaches the game and develops student-athletes. I’ve followed his career for a long time, and his knowledge of the way we run our program and specifically the defense will be valuable for us moving forward in our transition. Chris helped us improve drastically in our pass defense at Wisconsin where his defenses consistently ranked in the top 25 nationally in all the major categories.”
Ash spent the last three seasons at Wisconsin and helped the Badgers win three straight Big Ten Championships.
In 2012 Wisconsin was tops in the Big Ten and third in the nation in three-and-out percentage.
The Badgers were 13th in the nation in total defense and tied for 19th in scoring defense.
Ash will stay with Wisconsin through the Rose Bowl.