Bengals officially land their top choice for defensive coordinator and reunite with Al Golden
The Cincinnati Bengals have finally landed on their new defensive coordinator. Per multiple reports, Notre Dame DC Al Golden will officially take over the defense for Cincinnati. This comes with very little surprise as Golden was identified last week as the frontrunner for the job by SI Bengals Talk's Drae Harris. Patrick Graham, who's interviewing this […]
The Cincinnati Bengals have finally landed on their new defensive coordinator.
Per multiple reports, Notre Dame DC Al Golden will officially take over the defense for Cincinnati.
This comes with very little surprise as Golden was identified last week as the frontrunner for the job by SI Bengals Talk's Drae Harris. Patrick Graham, who's interviewing this week for the Jacksonville Jaguars head coaching job, was tabbed as the other finalist. Graham reportedly interviewed for the Bengals DC gig two weeks ago.
An interview for Golden was not possible until this week after Golden wrapped up his third season as Notre Dame's defensive play-caller, and even if he didn't have a formal sit-down with the Bengals, they already know him very well.
Before becoming the face of Notre Dame's defense for the past three years, Golden was the Bengals linebackers coach from 2020-21. It was his third different NFL assistant job and the Bengals were the second club to hire him. The former Penn State and New England Patriots tight end previously coached tight ends (2016-17) and then linebackers (2018-19) for the Detroit Lions.
Cincinnati's run to Super Bowl LVI helped Golden become one of Marcus Freeman's first hires in South Bend in 2022, and the two helped the Fighting Irish eventually make their first-ever College Football Playoff National Championship. They came up 11 points short against Ohio State on Monday night, but Golden's defense is largely responsible for getting the Fighting Irish that far in the first place. The talent disparity between his defense that was down several top players, including potential first-round cornerback Benjamin Morrison, and the $20 million roster the Buckeyes built was simply too much to overcome.
It wasn't the best way for Golden to go out, but Notre Dame had arguably the nation's best defense during the first 15 games of the year under Golden's tutelage. His unit played with cohesiveness and his scheme was simple for his players to follow and tough for opponents to decipher. Those are qualities the Bengals were coveting upon firing Lou Anarumo earlier this month.
Like Anarumo when he was hired in 2019, Golden will be a first-time DC at the NFL level. Anarumo at least held the interim DC title back in 2015 for the Miami Dolphins, but Golden will enter his next chapter with three years of experience at the position for a major college program. Golden was also the head coach at Temple and University of Miami for a combined 10 years before making his first jump to the NFL.
Despite his overall resume, Golden will have much to prove taking over an NFL defense for the first time at 55 years of age, and he'll be 56 by the time training camp begins. The way the Bengals went about this hire is questionable as well. Graham and Demarcus Covington were the only confirmed interviews for the position, and it never seemed like they were ever ahead of Golden in the process.
This job comes with a unique luxury. If the defense is just average with quarterback Joe Burrow playing at an elite level, the Bengals can go far. For a vacancy with that allure, you'd expect a wider net to be casted. The team instead waited for a former assistant to be available and didn't appear to seriously entertain anyone else aside from maybe Graham.
It's undoubtedly a risk the Bengals are taking following another 9-8 campaign. Golden will need to improve the defense by developing a plethora of young and unproven players along with rebuilding the defensive line around All-Pro Trey Hendrickson. He needs to do it all in one year or else the entire staff could be in jeopardy. That makes it also a risk for Golden, who signed a four-year extension with Notre Dame just last year.
The clock starts now for Cincinnati to rebuild half of its team under Golden, and the seconds will go by as quickly as he left South Bend for a Queen City return.