Connecting the dots that led Brian Jean-Mary to Notre Dame football
NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos...
SOUTH BEND — Notre Dame football’s first two defensive hires this winter, Charlie Partridge and Aaron Henry, had clear connections to returning defensive coordinator Chris Ash.
For well-traveled linebackers coach Brian Jean-Mary, the link was less obvious.
“I’ve always admired (Ash) from afar … just through the coaching ranks,” Jean-Mary said Wednesday, March 5 in his first session with local media.
Though Ash and Jean-Mary had never worked together, they nearly did with the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars. Late in 2020, after Urban Meyer was lured out of retirement, Jean-Mary interviewed for the linebacker coaching role that eventually went to Zach Orr.
Charlie Strong, Jean-Mary’s longtime mentor and former boss at multiple stops, was the team’s assistant head coach/inside linebackers. Ash spent that 2021 season coaching safeties for Meyer, his old boss on Ohio State’s 2014 national champions.
Voted into the College Football Hall of Fame last year, Meyer was fired after a brief but stormy tenure that saw the Jaguars go 2-11 on his watch.
“That’s when I got a chance to meet Coach Ash,” said Jean-Mary, who bounced that offseason from Michigan to Tennessee before later returning to Ann Arbor in 2024. “That was kind of our connection when this opportunity came up.”
Al Washington’s departure to coach linebackers for the NFL’s Miami Dolphins cleared the way for Jean-Mary, who briefly agreed to return to the Georgia Tech coaching staff in January. That move, however, was never announced and ultimately fell through.
Having a chance to work for fifth-year Irish head coach Marcus Freeman was a “big factor” in Jean-Mary’s decision. When Jean-Mary was running South Florida’s defense for Strong from 2017-19, Freeman was a rising young defensive coordinator at Cincinnati.
Conference rivals in the American Athletic, Jean-Mary and Freeman developed a long-distance respect while battling for league supremacy. South Florida went 10-2 and finished 2017 ranked 21st in the nation.
Jean-Mary’s defense was 41st in the land in scoring average allowed, including a 33-3 blowout of Cincinnati in mid-October.
A 7-0 start the following year would collapse for the Bulls, thanks to a six-game losing streak that included a 35-23 loss at Cincinnati. In 2019, the 17th-ranked Bearcats claimed a 20-17 slugfest at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa.
The Bulls again faded late, turning a 4-4 start into a 4-8 finish that got Strong fired after just three seasons.
“I saw the job that (Freeman) did there and always admired him from afar,” Jean-Mary said. “And then when he became the head coach here, I was as happy as anyone because I saw how he developed into being the head coach. … Coach Freeman is a one-of-one type of coach that most assistant coaches would want to work for.”
No shortage of options at linebacker for Notre Dame
Jean-Mary, 50, steps into an ideal situation with four returning veterans in his position room, including captain and leading tackler Drayk Bowen.
“You can lean on him because if anything is off, he’s the guy that could kind of get it back on the right track,” Jean-Mary said. “It’s always a blessing to have someone like Drayk, not just a leader in the room, but a team leader.”
While Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa is still rehabbing from a torn ACL suffered on Senior Day, Jaylen Sneed, Jaiden Ausberry and fast-rising sophomore Madden Faraimo give Jean-Mary plenty of returning options.
“The best coaching in the world is competition,” Jean Mary said. “I don’t think anybody here would get complacent, but having four or five (linebackers) really keeps everybody on their toes, myself included as a coach. We’ll try to rotate as many guys as possible.”
Mike Berardino covers Notre Dame football for the South Bend Tribune and NDInsider.com. Follow him on social media @MikeBerardino.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Connecting the dots with Notre Dame LB coach Brian Jean-Mary
More at NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos