Al Golden Is Looking To Once Again Build An Elite Defense At Notre Dame

Notre Dame defensive coordinator Al Golden is looking to use the spring to establish a strong defensive unit

Notre Dame defensive coordinator Al Golden during Notre Dame Fall Camp on Wednesday, July 26, 2023, / John Mersits / USA TODAY NETWORK

Notre Dame will have a much different looking defense this fall than the one that took the field in 2023. Al Golden, who is going into his third season as Fighting Irish defensive coordinator, will have the same scheme, but the personnel on the field will look a lot different. 

Constant turnover is the nature of college football, especially in the transfer portal era. Golden had mainstay linebackers JD Bertrand and Marist Liufau to anchor his scheme last season, but those veterans are now NFL hopefuls and now Golden must find out which talented but young and inexperienced players can fill the void. 

"That's what the spring is for,” Golden said after Notre Dame’s most recent spring practice. "To figure out who you are and what you do best and we're not the ’23 defense. We’re the ’24 defense. We could certainly learn a lot from what we did last year, but you can't really carry it forward, if you know what I mean. Each group has its own personality, its own leadership. So, we're waiting for all those things to kind of emerge, and we're trying to decide as we go.” 

With Bertrand and Liufau gone, players like rising sophomores Drayk Bowen and Jaiden Ausberry and freshman early enrollee Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa are the next men in this spring and all have appeared to step up when called upon. 

"All of those guys are pushing each other,” Golden explained. "It's a good group. It's a good core. They're versatile. They can all run. They're smart kids. They're just fun to be around. The thing that's a blessing — I keep saying it — we have a lot of guys focused on the right things. 

"In this day, where you’ve got so many things going haywire, we have a lot of guys trying to get a degree, trying to get better every day in football, trying to get stronger, trying to do the right things in the community and as a coach, when I say 'That's a blessing,’ that's a blessing,” Golden continued. "We're not dealing with any of the other stuff. Every day, it's, ‘Coach me. Coach, make me better.’ So, they challenge you as a coach, and hopefully we're answering their challenge and making them better every day.” 

The defense lost two leaders from 2023 as well. Bertrand and cornerback Cam Hart were both captains. Players like safety Xavier Watts, linebacker Jack Kiser and defensive linemen Rylie Mills and Howard Cross III are all potential defensive captain candidates, but building leadership is built into the daily workings of the program. 

"One of our biggest tenets is just empowerment, let them figure things out — teach them how to fish, if you will,” Golden explained. "Don't feed them. Don't stand behind them during practice and tell them to get lined up here or lined up there or ‘you should have done that.’ Don't yell at them during the play or before the play. Let them learn how to do it. Let them go through it and let them learn how to make decisions. 

"In other words, don't create an environment where indecision is okay,” Golden continued. "Let them learn how to make a decision and then when they come over to the sideline, we help them understand, ‘Well, maybe try this next time’ or ‘That was a great solution, but here's what we would want to do in a game.’ So, that's really how we're based.” 

The Irish have a total of five starting positions from last season that will definitely be filled by someone who was not a starter last season when they open the season on Aug. 31 at Texas A&M. In addition to Bertrand’s middle linebacker and Liufau’s Will linebacker spots, free safety (DJ Brown), big defensive end (Javontae Jean-Baptiste), and Hart’s cornerback spot. If the spring and fall camp goes well the Irish will look to once again field one of the nation's best defenses.

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