HOT SPRINGS, Arkansas — Nearly one month after Notre Dame‘s magical run to the national championship game, Al Golden was still processing a memorable season as he stood in a hallway outside a large banquet room where he would soon receive recognition as the nation’s top assistant coach.
Two days after falling to Ohio State in the title game, the defensive coordinator left for the NFL, where he will coordinate the defense for the Cincinnati Bengals. These days, he’s busy evaluating unrestricted free agents and studying names and measurables ahead of the NFL Combine, but on this Friday night at a horse track in central Arkansas, he’s donning a Notre Dame pin on a navy blue suit. He’s downright romantic as he reminisces about a three-year stay in South Bend.
“It was the greatest 1,000 days of my career to be associated, to wake up and coach those young men every day,” he said. “There’s a place in northern Indiana where young men go that still think it’s important to be great in the community, they still think it’s great to be awesome in the classroom, they still think it’s important and vital to have a spiritual component in your life. And it’s all fostered by a head coach who provides a culture. I was just blessed to be part of that for just a brief moment. For them, I’m grateful for this opportunity to be up here.”
Golden beat out four other coaches and became the Broyles Award winner during a Thursday ceremony at Oaklawn, a world-famous horse track and resort tucked an hour’s drive southwest of Arkansas’ state capital. Golden led an injury-stricken defense to a top-5 finish in several national categories, including scoring, and did so without several starters during the longest season in college football history.
“It’s hard,” Golden told CBS Sports. “Look, when you walk into Notre Dame and you walk around the facility and you see the Heisman trophies, the Butkus Award and the banners, it’s hard to do anything first, so when you’re the first to host a College Football Playoff Game and win it, the first to win 13 in a row, win the Orange Bowl and win the Sugar Bowl, those are all great things.
“It’s in the building now. The guys know how to do it each week and what it means to prepare and be focused, keep it small and respect every opponent.”
An incredulous 16-14 loss to Northern Illinois, a middle-of-the-road team in the MAC, sparked the Irish’s improbable run to the national championship game. As most of the nation gave up on Notre Dame after Week 2, the Irish turned their focus within, particularly when things got more challenging with injuries mounting on offense and defense.
Still, somehow, Notre Dame kept winning. Golden’s defense lost five starters for at least a part of the season during the run. When pass rusher Jordan Botelho went down, Boubacar Traore stepped in and picked up three sacks in September, but then he was lost for the season with a knee injury. Two-time All-American cornerback Benjamin Morrison suffered a season-ending hip injury against Stanford. Defensive tackle Howard Cross III sat out most of November. Then came the biggest injury of the postseason, when Rylie Mills, the team’s sacks leader (7.5), was lost during the first-round win against Indiana.
“To this day, I don’t think everybody understands,” Golden said. “People wanted [Marcus Freeman] fired after Week 2. Then, the rash of injuries we had on defense, the resiliency of the group.”
As the wins piled up, and the defense carried the Irish to win after win, Golden suddenly became an enticing name on the job market. The former head coach at Miami and Temple, and now a finalist for the Broyles Award, garnered attention from the NFL. Cincinnati head coach Zac Taylor, for whom Golden coached in 2021, focused his search for a defensive coordinator on Golden. Golden agreed to talk briefly after the semifinal win in the Orange Bowl and expressed interest in Cincy’s job opening but would only speak at length about the gig after the national championship game against Ohio State.
“It was incredibly hard just because of the relationships. There was no reason to leave,” Golden said. “There was nothing that pointed me to leave. There was no trigger. I couldn’t have been happier. I loved coming to work every day; I loved coaching those kids. Our staff was incredible. … It was such a great environment; with that environment, it helped me flourish and helped me be the best that I could be.”
Taylor understood Golden’s request to wait. After all, when Golden was his linebackers coach during the Bengals’ run to the Super Bowl in 2021, he appreciated Freeman waiting a month to speak to Golden about becoming the Irish’s defensive play-caller. As they won game after game, Taylor called Golden into his office and coaxed him to travel to South Bend before the Super Bowl to see if the job interested him.
“That’s amazing, getting ready for a Super Bowl and he did that,” Golden said.
For outsiders, the 2024 season seemed like a storybook ending for Golden’s college career, even though he didn’t win a national title. He beat his alma mater, Penn State, in the CFP semifinals at the Orange Bowl, in the backyard of the university he once led at Miami.
“I never looked at it like, if we don’t Penn State, I won’t be fulfilled,” he said. “It has nothing to do with that.”
He added: “It was an incredible 1,000 days with the most incredible kids. They made me better. They made me the best version of myself.”
A few hours later, Golden was announced as the winner of the Broyles Award in front of a crowd of 800 attendees. He walked off the stage, posed for photographs with the 75-pound trophy, grasped it with one hand, and lifted the heavy memento a few inches off the table to the astonishment of photographers and onlookers.
“I will always consider myself part of that program, and now this kind of cements that,” Golden said. “In one time and place, the head coach, the staff and the players, the confluence of that came together and created this. That will stay with them forever.”
