Al Golden explains why Notre Dame defense will thrive despite Bengals move
2024 Notre Dame defensive coordinator Al Golden already took a job with the Cincinnati Bengals, but he still offered plenty of praise for his old team as the Fighting Irish continue without him
Notre Dame has already replaced departing defensive coordinator Al Golden with Chris Ash within 10 days of losing the 2024 College Football Playoff National Championship to Georgia.
Golden’s defense improved from the 39th-best nationally in points per game allowed in 2022 to the fourth-best in 2024. His strong work earned him the defensive coordinator gig with the Cincinnati Bengals.
Speaking with Irish Sports Daily, Golden expressed optimism for Notre Dame’s defense in 2025 despite his departure, citing the infrastructure already in place.
“We still want to play a physical brand of football,” he said. “At the end of the day, linebackers have to be leaders, or it’s hard to have a great defense. Communication is key. [Linebackers coach] Max [Bullough] has done a great job with the evaluations. It takes a collective effort.”
New defensive coordinator Chris Ash will coach a unit featuring star linebacker Daryk Bowen, 2024 FWAA FreshmanDefensive Player of the Year Leonard Moore, and safety Adon Shuler.
Golden, who previously served as the Bengals’ linebackers coach from 2020-2021, compared Bowen to longtime Cincinnati middle linebacker Logan Wilson.
“Logan can play straight and strong,” he said. “I think Drayk does that. Drayk is a knockback tackler and can play in the box really well. He has enough lateral quickness to get to the perimeter and is a good leader.”
“I think Drayk will end up being bigger physically. People don’t realize how big Draky is right now. He’s a big, physical linebacker. That’s a great comparison.”
Not everything was rosy: Golden emphasized some of the challenges the school will face in recruiting and how the school will have to be creative when scouting high schoolers.
“That’s a challenge right now in recruiting,” he stated. “Offers have changed. There are all kinds of qualifiers on offers in our business. That’s not the way it was when I was growing up.”
“I’m sure Leonard [Moore] didn’t have 100 offers when he was a sophomore, but he kept evolving and getting better. I think there are a lot of guys who are like that on our defense. It’s why it’s important to know what you’re looking for.”
Ash spent the 2024 season as a scout with the Jacksonville Jaguars and spent the 2022 and 2023 seasons as the defensive backs coach for the Las Vegas Raiders.
