Notre Dame Seeks New Defensive Coordinator as Al Golden Returns to NFL

Golden spent three remarkable years calling Notre Dame's championship caliber defense

Jan 18, 2025; Atlanta, GA, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish defensive coordinator Al Golden during 2025 CFP National Championship Media Day at Georgia World Congress Center, Building A. | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Notre Dame is on the search for a new defensive coordinator as Al Golden is headed back to the NFL.

According to reports from multiple outlets, Golden has told Notre Dame brass that he is accepting the offer to become the defensive coordinator of the Cincinnati Bengals. Golden had coached the Bengals linebackers before taking the Notre Dame defensive coordinator job back in 2022.

Al Golden's Impressive Run at Notre Dame

Apr 20, 2024; Notre Dame, IN, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish Defensive Coordinator Al Golden participates in warmups before the Blue-Gold Game at Notre Dame Stadium. | Matt Cashore-Imagn Images

Golden was key in Notre Dame's run to the national championship game as the defense he called was one of the nation's very best. Notre Dame allowed just 15.5 points per game this year, the fifth-fewest in all of FBS. The Irish also had the nation's top-rated defense in terms of pass efficiency.

In Golden's three years calling Notre Dame's defense, the Irish finished ranked 39th, seventh, and fifth in points allowed per game.

Golden was also brought in for Marcus Freeman's first year as as head coach and brought the only head coaching experience to the staff with him.

Notre Dame Defensive Coordinator a Top Assistant Job Nationally

Dec 27, 2024; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Texas A&M Aggies head coach Mike Elko reacts against the Southern California Trojans in the first half at Allegiant Stadium. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The Notre Dame defensive coordinator job has become one of the best assistant coaching jobs in the country in recent years and will be highly sought after again this time around.

Take this into consideration as the last four to hold the job have been:

2017: Mike Elko - now head coach at Texas A&M
2018-2020: Clark Lea - now head coach at Vanderbilt
2021: Marcus Freeman - now head coach at Notre Dame
2022-2024: Al Golden - now defensive coordinator for Cincinnati Bengals

Is the Favorite to Replace Golden Already on Staff?

Apr 20, 2024; Notre Dame, IN, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish defensive backs coach Mike Mickens participates in warmups before the Blue-Gold Game at Notre Dame Stadium. | Matt Cashore-Imagn Images

As soon as the Cincinnati Bengals DC job became open the belief was the Al Golden was going to be a prime candidate.

As soon as that happened, Notre Dame defensive backs coach Mike Mickens became the favorite in many people's eyes to step up into the role.

I'll examine this further shortly but I have conflicting initial thoughts.

What else could you possibly ask of Mike Mickens as defensive backs coach over the past few years? He's turned Notre Dame's secondary into one of the nation's absolute best on an annual basis.

Mickens doesn't bring the resume that Elko brought in 2017 when he became Notre Dame's defensive coordinator, but does bring a resume that is more accomplished than Elko's replacement, then-Notre Dame linebackers coach Clark Lea in 2018.

One thing we know for sure is that there with the level of job this position is and what the next defensive coordinator will inherit, there certainly won't be a shortage of candidates trying to throw their name into the mix.

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