Even before last night’s loss in the national championship game, rumors swirled that Notre Dame defensive coordinator Al Golden was the Cincinnati Bengals’ top choice to fill the same role in Cincy. Moments after Notre Dame’s loss to Ohio State, the rumors intensified. Tuesday night, they reached the point where reports are the Bengals expect Golden to be their next DC in the near future.
We’ve all seen coordinator searches go south fast (looking at you, Andy Ludwig), but generally speaking, when NFL teams expect someone they are interviewing to take the role, they know it’s their top guy and that they’ll take the job if/when offered. So, it’s looking more and more likely that Marcus Freeman is about to have a huge role to fill on his staff for 2025.
Al Golden has done a remarkable job with the Notre Dame defense over the last three years despite last night not being his best showing. Golden was down some players he needed against an offense like Ohio State’s, but if he is indeed heading to Cincinnati, the last memorable play call of his time at Notre Dame would be the ill-fated third and 11 conversion by Ohio State.
It seemed obvious to anyone paying attention that Golden to Cincinnati was a definite possibility. Golden could have shot down the rumors before the national championship game, but he didn’t. “It’s humbling that your name is mentioned because of team success or the success of our defense,” Golden said before adding, “This is not the time or place. This is about the kids.”
“The biggest thing for us right now is understanding the enormity of this game. That’s our focus. All of that other stuff we’ll deal with in the future,” Golden said over the weekend.
Asked again last night after the loss, Golden again was vague. “I’m sorry, I can’t even fathom thinking about anything right now other than what we just experienced,” said Golden.
Fair or not, people will undoubtedly look at Notre Dame’s defensive performance in the National Championship game and those answers and link it with what appears to be Golden’s imminent departure, just as a lot of people in Detroit are with Ben Johnson leaving the Lions as OC to be the head coach of the Chicago Bears a day after the Lions were eliminated.
Should the position become vacant, it would be a very attractive role should Freeman look outside his current staff for a replacement. Notre Dame returns seven of its starters on defense from last night and will get Jordan Botelho and Boubacar Traore back from injury. Technically, Benjamin Morrison has a year of eligibility left, but the expectation is Morrison will declare for the NFL Draft. Freeman has also said numerous times this year that defensive backs coach Mike Mickens is ready to be a defensive coordinator.
According to On3, the interview between Golden and the Bengals is expected to occur within the next 48 hours, so we should know whether Freeman has to make another consequential coordinator hire for the third year in a row. Two years ago, he had to replace Tommy Rees after he left for Alabama, and last year, he had to replace Rees’s replacement, Gerad Parker, when he left to become the head coach at Troy.
