Who is Al Golden, the Notre Dame DC who could reunite with the Cincinnati Bengals?
After losing in the CFP final, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish’s defensive coordinator has his sights set on the NFL, and one team is already interested.
The Cincinnati Bengals parted ways with defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo after five years. During his tenure with the team, Anarumo helped the Bengals reach the playoffs twice, but over the last two seasons, the defense was not performing to the level they once had. Anarumo has now been hired as the Indianapolis Colts' defensive coordinator.
Now that the Bengals position has opened up, Cincinnati has their sights set on Notre Dame’s defensive coordinator Al Golden, who is familiar with the organization.
Al Golden to reunite with the Bengals?
The Fighting Irish’s football season officially came to an end on Monday night, when they were defeated by the Ohio State Buckeyes in the College Football Playoffs final. According to NFL Network, Bengals head coach Zac Taylor had been waiting for that moment to announce Golden as a top candidate for their future defensive coordinator.
Notre Dame defensive coordinator Al Golden has emerged as a top candidate to be the #Bengals new DC, per me and @MikeGarafolo.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 21, 2025
Coach Zac Taylor has been waiting for the National Championship to end before moving forward. Now that it has, he can speak with Golden & work thru it. pic.twitter.com/1eELIXX3Sv
55-year-old Golden has many years of experience as a coach, and though he’s best known for his tenures as head coach at Temple and Miami, he also has coaching experience at the NFL level, including with the Bengals.
Golden, who played college ball at Penn State, signed as an undrafted rookie tight end with the New England Patriots in 1992, but he never did play in a regular-season game, and that was the end of his playing career in the NFL.
After that, he began his coaching career at the high school and college level, becoming the head coach at Temple in 2005 and completely turning the program around. In 2010, he became the head coach at Miami and stayed there another five years.
In 2016, he made the move to the NFL, becoming the tight ends coach for the Detroit Lions and later their linebackers coach. He was hired by the Bengals in January 2020 to be their linebackers coach and he stayed until 2022.
That’s when he joined the Fighting Irish as their defensive coordinator, helping the school maintain their dominance as one of the best in college football. In the 2023 season, Notre Dame ranked as the fifth-best defense in the nation by yards allowed. His contract with the school is coming to an end after this season, so he’s also in the market for a new job.
The game against Ohio State could skew some peoples opinion, but Al Golden turned Notre Dame’s defense into a POWERHOUSE
— The Sitdown w/ Malik Wright (@sitdown513) January 21, 2025
Golden would do the same for the Cincinnati Bengals, and @Wrightreportt and @AlamedaViews analyzed his fit
Link: https://t.co/qiFSpxdpzg pic.twitter.com/oHDAgHYi8m
The Bengals defense ranked 25th worst among all NFL teams in the 2024 season, allowing an average of 25.5 points per game. They gave up 30 touchdowns, 2,122 rushing yards, and 4.4 yards per carry. They could use a defensive mind like Golden’s to help turn things around next season.
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