They entered the coaching ranks together. NC State’s Dave Doeren, Notre Dame DC Chris Ash to face off again

The trio of budding college football assistants piled into a car headed south from Drake University in Iowa on spring break of 1997. But instead of setting course for any coastline with beaches and resorts, they were determined to find a way to look for an opportunity to improve as their careers were just starting.  Dave Doeren, the older one of the bunch, led the charge by selecting the highway that he, along with Chris Ash and Charlie Partridge would motor down to make a tour of several Power Conference programs. On this occasion, it was a trip that featured learning opportunities at Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and TCU.  But, as the “poor” coaches they were, the trio ended up sleeping on random people’s floors after building connections throughout the day. The three young, yet eager defensive minds weren’t going to let any chance go by to improve themselves.  And as Doeren, who was a 26-year-old defensive coordinator for the Pioneer League program, paced the group, all three pushed one another. In a way, their competitive spirit showed through as each assistant wanted to glean as much information as possible from the bigger teams without letting his other two close friends down.