The College Football season is over, as the Ohio State Buckeyes persevered through their end-of-season loss to the Michigan Wolverines and finished the playoffs with a 34-23 win over the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. As is the case at the end of every season, stars will move on to the NFL and coaches will shift around as well. For the Fighting Irish, it appears they could be losing one of their top coaches in the coming days.
Reports surfaced earlier last week that the Chicago Bears were interested in Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman, but those rumors can be put to bed as they just hired their new head coach earlier today with Ben Johnson from the Detroit Lions. Following the conclusion of tonight’s game, an NFL Insider reported that a Fighting Irish assistant could be on the move.
Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports that Notre Dame defensive coordinator Al Golden has become the top target for Zach Taylor and the Cincinnati Bengals for their defensive coordinator position. Golden, who has served as the Irish’s defensive coordinator since 2022, made stops with the Detroit Lions and Cincinnati Bengals as positional coaches following his head coaching tenure with Miami.
With Notre Dame already set to lose several key players to the NFL Draft and graduation after this season, losing Golden will be a tough look for the Irish. Entering tonight’s CFP National Championship, the Irish were allowing just 14.3 points per game under Golden but allowed Ohio State to gain 445 yards.
If Golden is to depart, Freeman can decide whether to look from within or hire outside the program for the defensive coordinator position. Whoever assumes the role will be tasked with slowing down Carson Beck and the Miami Hurricane offense in Week 1 of the 2025 season at Hard Rock Stadium.