Notre Dame officially hires Charlie Partridge as new defensive line coach

News broke on Jan. 2 that Notre Dame was hiring Colts defensive line coach Charlie Partridge for the same position with the Fighting Irish, and the university has now made the hiring official. It is Blue & Gold’s understanding that Partridge’s first official day on the job was Jan. 7.

“Charlie’s record of developing highly impactful defensive linemen speaks for itself,” said Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman in a press release from the university. “We are excited to have him joining our staff. His experience in both college football and the NFL, as well as his experience working with Chris Ash, will be very beneficial to our program.”

Thus far, the Irish have only had one assistant coach leave: linebackers coach Max Bullough, who headed to Michigan State, his alma mater, as co-defensive coordinator. Irish defensive line coach Al Washington moved over to linebackers to replace Bullough, leaving Notre Dame with a vacancy to fill Washington’s former role.

Notre Dame defensive coordinator Chris Ash led the hiring process for the defensive line position, and Partridge was the choice from the jump. The two go a long way back.

Partridge began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Drake in 1996. He held the same position in 1997, which was the first year current Notre Dame defensive coordinator Chris Ash joined him there with an identical job title.

Partridge went on to become a graduate assistant at Iowa State in 1998-99, and Ash followed him, again, with the same designation in Ames in 2000-01. During those two seasons of overlap, Partridge was promoted to director of football operations.

Partridge and Ash linked up on the same coaching staff again from 2010-13. For the first three of those seasons, they were at Wisconsin. For the fourth, they were at Arkansas. They made it to the Rose Bowl three times with the Badgers, including as co-defensive coordinators in 2011 and 2012.

It has been over a decade since Partridge and Ash coached together, but the connection was still strong enough for them to reunite once more.

Notre Dame DL coach Charlie Partridge coaching file

Pitt (2017-2023) — defensive line and assistant head coach
Florida Atlantic (2014-16) — head coach
Arkansas (2013) — assistant head coach and defensive line
Wisconsin (2008-13) — defensive line, special teams, associate head coach, co-defensive coordinator
Pitt (2003-07) — defensive line, special teams, linebackers
Eastern Illinois (2002) — defensive line and recruiting coordinator
Iowa State (1998-2001) graduate assistant, director of football operations
Drake (1996-97) graduate assistant

Blue & Gold’s Tyler Horka contributed to this article.