It seems being the former head coach of the Miami Hurricanes could be a job requirement to be named a defensive coordinator by a college football blueblood this offseason. Penn State hired Manny Diaz shortly to be its defensive coordinator shortly after Miami made a head coaching change this offseason. Now, it appears as though Notre Dame could be preparing to hire another former Miami head coach, and one with ties to Penn State.
Al Golden is reportedly the leading candidate for the job of defensive coordinator at Notre Dame, according to a previous report from Football Scoop. Golden is currently the linebackers coach for the Cincinnati Bengals, but now that the Super Bowl is over, potential job change could be just a matter of days, if not hours, away.
If Golden is hired by Notre Dame, he would be filling the vacancy on the staff left by the promotion of Marcus Freeman from defensive coordinator to head coach. Freeman was named the head coach of the Fighting Irish after Brian Kelly left South Bend to become the head coach at LSU.
Golden is a former Penn State football player, playing under former head coach Joe Paterno. Golden got his coaching career started as a high school coach before making college stops as an assistant at Boston College, Penn State, and Virginia. From Virginia, Golden was named the head coach of Temple. After building the Temple program, Golden was named the head coach of Miami in 2011.
Golden spent four seasons with the Hurricanes before being removed from the position. From there, Golden went to the NFL to be an assistant with the Detroit Lions before making his way to Cincinnati in 2020.
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