The National Championship Result Is No Reason To Worry About Al Golden In Cincinnati
Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images
Notre Dame’s Al Golden spent the entirety of his time leading up to and following the National Championship Game dodging questions about the Cincinnati Bengals defensive coordinator gig.
Al Golden deflected questions about the #Bengals opening in recent days but he’s squarely on Zac Taylor’s radar and they’ll pursue him to be their new DC. https://t.co/Ub3Gmf1hNa
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) January 21, 2025
“I think the biggest thing right now, it’s humbling that your name is mentioned because of the team success or the success of our defense,” Golden said days prior to the National Championship Game. “It’s a reflection of [DBs coach] Mike Mickens or [LB coach] Max Bullough, [DL coach] Al Washington, all of those things. But at the end of the day, this is not the time or the place. This is about the kids. There’s always time to reflect on all of that after the season. The biggest thing for us right now is just understanding the enormity of this game.”
Both the question and the response are justified. Cincinnati media know that fans want to know as soon as possible whether or not he will fill their defensive coordinator position. However, the only thing on Golden’s mind was guiding the Fighting Irish defense to a title. On Monday, he came up just short.
#NDFootball DC Al Golden when asked about NFL Network report linking him to same role with the @Bengals, where he worked for two years: "I’m sorry. I can’t even fathom thinking about anything right now other than what we just experienced." #NotreDame
— Mike BerardinoNDI (@MikeBerardino) January 21, 2025
Almost immediately after the game, the Bengals immediately leaked to the media that he was their top candidate, and all signs point to Golden (re)joining the Bengals’ staff. Fans were none too pleased, especially after watching Notre Dame’s defense get 34 points hung on them by Ohio State. However, a lot of those criticisms were amplified by the recency bias, and rather unfairly, to say the least.
I can’t believe some of yall are judging Al Golden off this game, brain dead takes.
Notre Dame is missing 4/5 best defensive players & played good against the best offense in college. Get a grip
— EA (@EAB_740) January 21, 2025
Several of Notre Dame’s defensive starters were out due to injury against an incredible offense, which feels like necessary context for a tough performance.
Prior to last night’s loss, Golden was at the helm of a defense that only allowed more than 24 points in a game once all season, and more than 17 points in only three games. He coached a balanced unit that was the tenth-highest-graded defense by PFF in all of college football (91.7), in addition to the third-highest-graded in coverage (91.0). For a Bengals defense with a young foundation that desperately needs its recent high draft picks to blossom, Golden would be a high-profile hire who both has experience in the organization (as a linebackers coach) and as the coordinator of a top college defense.
His Fighting Irish defense even consists of two players (cornerback Benjamin Morrison and safety Xavier Watts) who are on PFF’s Top 50 draft board for 2025. Morrison, in particular, is the third highest-rated cornerback on the big board, which is a big deal for a position whose No. 1 player, Travis Hunter, took home the most recent Heisman Trophy.
Assuming Golden gets the job, the Bengals, who are slated to pick in the middle of each round of the draft, are potentially in a position to draft one, or even both, of those players. Considering the secondary’s struggles in 2024, the need is there. Seeing one or both joining the Bengals in 2025 is a plausible and welcome scenario.
But even with his resume, Golden took heavy criticism after leaving star receiver Jeremiah Smith open in a one-on-one matchup with the game on the line, one where Ohio State took full advantage.
Al Golden has revived his career in South Bend.
He’s been masterful.
But not using Xavier Watts to help on Jeremiah Smith on the most important play of the game is malpractice.
— Neil W. Blackmon (@nwblackmon) January 21, 2025
Golden took full accountability for the errant play call.
“There’s 15 other calls I could have made,” Golden said. “We were near the end. We couldn’t allow another first down. We went the pressure route, and obviously [Smith] made a great play.”
Even with that misstep, the writing is on the wall, and Golden appears to be headed back to Cincinnati. While recency bias may instinctively kick in and upset fans who shout “O-H!” at the first sight of anyone wearing the color red, his recent pedigree and experience in the Bengals’ system can’t be ignored. His experience as the Bengals’ linebackers coach was what allowed him to get the high-profile job at Notre Dame to begin with. Now, his experience and success as defensive coordinator with the Fighting Irish appears to have led him back to the organization that helped land him that job, but now in a much more prominent position.
Fear not, Who Dey Nation.
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