Al Golden Brings Experience, Fresh Approach Into Second Spring At Notre Dame

Notre Dame second-year defensive coordinator Al Golden has pared things down this spring

Al Golden has rolled into spring football with a different vibe. Notre Dame’s defensive coordinator was taking his first steps back on a college football campus a year ago at this time after six seasons as and NFL assistant coach. He left the Cincinnati Bengals after their run to the Super Bowl and landed at Notre Dame with about a month to spare before spring practice began for the Irish.

The environment was new for him and he was another new face and scheme for Irish defensive players to learn. Golden was the third defensive coordinator and linebackers coach in as many seasons, following Clark Lea and Marcus Freeman before him, but he is now the first returning defensive boss the current seniors on the roster have had in their careers.

“I notice a huge difference,” Golden said after Wednesday’s latest spring practice inside the Irish Athletic Center. “Last year was the confluence of a lot of different things meeting in spring ball. You know myself in the systems I've been a part of, the personnel that was here and then Marcus's system and even to some extent the guys that were here before Marcus, (Mike Mickens) and (Chris O’Leary), some of the things they brought from Clark. So, all of that came together last year and it was overwhelming at times trying to get it calmed down.”

Golden has already seen a difference in his returning personnel in the first week of spring practice. He has pared things down from his thick defensive playbook as well.

“The first order of priority for me this offseason was don't just pick the plays you're going to run in the spring,” Golden explained. “Look at the opponents first and what do we need to run. Because we probably practiced some things last spring that we didn't need to. And as the as the season evolved, I needed X, Y and Z. So now we're practicing X,Y and Z and as these other things are gone and that's been awesome.”

Familiarity with the Notre Dame schedule helps as well. Golden hadn’t coached in college since his run as Miami’s head coach ended after the 2010 season and he hadn’t worked as a defensive coordinator since 2005 at Virginia, so every opponent on the 2022 Fighting Irish slate brought something completely new for him to prepare for. But the Irish will face five opponents this season that he schemed against last year.

“Really that was the impetus for our approach this offseason,” Golden said. “I hadn't seen all those offenses. I tried to catch up, but it was really hard, because I got here so late. And I know the personnel better. So, I know what the personnel, what their strengths are and what they can do really well.”

Golden’s second Fighting Irish defense is a mix of returning starters, like the team’s top four tacklers in JD Bertrand, Jack Kiser, Marist Liufau, and DJ Brown, veterans looking to make a name for themselves, like most of the defensive line, and young and talented linebackers like Jaylen Sneed, Prince Kollie and Nolan Ziegler, who are looking to break out.

That mix has given Golden and his defensive staff to do some mixing of their own at practice.

“We mix the starters every day,” said Golden. “Every single day we mix the starting unit every time we go on the field and the guys don't know who's starting until we announce it that morning and it's helping with our preparedness. It's helping with our preparation. And it's a morale booster, you know. You can't hide what's on tape. So, if a guy's not quite ready for the ones, it kind of plays out that way. And if somebody is, on the other hand, doing well with their opportunity, then maybe we should get a little bit more reps.”

The defensive line lost the program’s all-time sacks leader, Isaiah Foskey, as well as productive and competitive twins brothers Justin and Jayson Ademilola, who combined for 68 tackles and six sacks of their own last season.

Howard Cross III (33 tackles, 2.0 sacks) and Rylie Mills (24 tackles, 3.5 sacks) are the two most productive returning linemen. Jordan Botelho, Nana Osafo-Mensah and Gabe Rubio played 13, 13 and 12 games, respectively, last season, but both are looking for bigger roles this year. Meanwhile, young guys like Donovan Hinish and Josh Burnham and graduate transfer Javontae Jean-Baptiste are all in the mix this spring as well.

“I see a collective approach right now, which is awesome,” Golden said of the defensive line. “You have your veterans coming back with Riley and Howard and Gabe to a certain extent, Nana. Baptiste coming in helps a lot. Jordan and Junior (Tuihalamaka) coming back and playing towards the end of the year helped us. So now we just need that next generation of guys to step up. You know, is it going to be (Jason) Onye, is it going to be Hinish, is going to be (Josh) Burnham? Who is it going to be? And that's what the spring is all about.”

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