CINCINNATI — The Cincinnati Bengals may have found a successor to former defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo. They didn’t need to look far.
Cincinnati is finalizing a deal to hire Notre Dame defensive coordinator Al Golden to run its defense, according to a team source. Golden helped the Fighting Irish to Monday night’s College Football Playoff national championship game, where they lost to Ohio State. He is expected to officially sign with the team on Thursday.
Golden, 55, is a familiar face to Bengals coach Zac Taylor after serving as linebackers coach in Cincinnati for the 2020 and 2021 seasons. Golden left the Bengals to become Notre Dame DC after the team’s loss to Super Bowl against the Los Angeles Rams in February 2022.
The Bengals are looking for a coach who can make the most of eight top picks on the defensive side of the ball who have disappointed in recent years. Cincinnati’s defense fell to 25th in points allowed per drive in 2023 and 26th in 2024. A coach with a history of success at the college level adds to Golden’s appeal and he can undeniably make that claim.
Notre Dame ranked second in FBS in terms of defense last season and seventh in 2023.
The Bengals went 9-8 and missed the playoffs by one game despite an MVP-level season from quarterback Joe Burrow, a triple crown season from wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase and a sack title from Trey Hendrickson. The team went 3-4 while scoring at least 33 points. The rest of the NFL was 79-7.
Cincinnati was looking for a new defensive coordinator after firing Anarumo on January 6. He worked as the Bengals’ defensive coordinator for the six years Taylor was at the helm. Former Las Vegas Raiders defensive coordinator Patrick Graham was also a finalist for DC.
Golden first made his name as the head coach at Temple University from 2006 to 2010. He took over a program that went 3-31 in the three seasons before his arrival. In Golden’s final two years at Temple, the Owls finished 17-8. Golden parlayed his success there into becoming head coach at the University of Miami and held that position for four seasons, going 32-25.
Golden first joined the NFL in 2016, coaching tight ends and linebackers before landing with Taylor in Cincinnati in 2020.
How Golden became the right fit in Cincinnati
Golden had more ties to Taylor and the Bengals than any candidate and it wasn’t close. Golden really never left Cincinnati. When he was coaching linebackers in 2020-21, he bought a house on the same street as Taylor. They were neighbors and his three children attended high schools in Cincinnati. Golden took the job in South Bend after the Super Bowl, but he didn’t sell his house or move his family. He remained Taylor’s neighbor and close friend despite spending most of his in-season time at Notre Dame. Once he began to excel for the Irish and illustrate a unique ability to motivate and teach young players, the game began to make as much sense for the Bengals as it did for Golden, who no longer had to travel to and from South Bend.
Beyond that, knowledge of the unique structure of the Bengals organization is essential given the defensive coordinator’s involvement in player evaluation and selection. The Bengals ask their coaches to stay involved in the draft and free agency more than any team in the NFL. Family ownership creates another unique balance for all key members of the coaching staff. Additionally, Taylor focuses primarily on the offensive side of the ball, leaving the defensive coordinator to essentially serve as the head coach on the other side of the ball, largely with carte blanche. Golden arrives well aware of all this.
It also fits with a successful move made last year by one of Taylor’s closest coaching friends, Matt LaFleur. The Packers coach moved to defensive coordinator and removed Boston College head coach Jeff Hafley from the college ranks. The Packers fell from 22nd in points allowed per drive in 2023 to sixth last season.
While the Bengals expected to rely heavily on their youth movement on defense, the idea of a coach with a college background had advantages over those whose history was primarily in the NFL. Even more so to add a new voice, but also one in which both parties know exactly what they are getting into. — Paul Dehner Jr., Bengals beat writer
Who the Bengals are adding as defensive line coach
Jerry Montgomery, 45, will take over as defensive line coach after one year in New England. He will begin his 20th season as defensive line coach between college and professional football. Montgomery bounced around major college programs before landing with the Green Bay Packers in 2015. He spent nine seasons in Green Bay, moving from defensive line assistant to defensive line coach and game coordinator before leaving before last season. Montgomery accepted the job as the Patriots’ defensive line coach, but that proved short-lived in the first season under Jerod Mayo, who was fired and replaced by Mike Vrabel.
This is an interesting addition to the Bengals staff alongside offensive line coach Scott Peters and his assistant Michael McCarthy, also from the Patriots staff. Both sides of the New England trenches will move to Cincinnati in an attempt to revitalize a struggling area of their roster.
His task will be to develop a defensive line that has struggled mightily in 2024, seeing regression from a collection of high draft picks and minimal production from every veteran not named Trey Hendrickson. Zac Taylor fired defensive line coach Marion Hobby as part of defensive overhaul. — Dehner Jr.
How Golden’s departure impacts Notre Dame
Golden’s departure for Cincinnati had been buzzing around Notre Dame for several weeks, even during the program’s run to the national championship. Even after three seasons in South Bend, Indiana, Cincinnati was still considered Golden’s home base. And even though Notre Dame rewarded Golden at the top of the college market, a chance to return to the NFL offers the next challenge in a career that has ridden the wave from up-and-coming coach to off-the-grid. being one of the smartest minds in football.
Notre Dame’s defense has been exceptional under Golden, finishing No. 1 nationally in pass efficiency defense each of the last two seasons. But that third year was Golden’s master class, as he had to build the Irish defense on the fly while losing half of his starting lineup for long stretches, including American cornerback Benjamin Morrison and the defensive tackle Rylie Mills. Golden has figured out how to get performances from not only veteran journeymen (i.e. free agents) but also freshmen (i.e. rookies). On the surface, who is part of the alignment seems to matter less than the system for which the alignment was trained.
If the last three years were an audition to return to the NFL, this time as a defensive coordinator, it’s hard to imagine Golden doing better than that. Golden was Marcus Freeman’s first big hire after Freeman was promoted to head coach at Notre Dame three years ago. It’s easy to argue that Golden was Freeman’s best decision as well.
Defensive backs coach Mike Mickens will follow Golden, but there’s a good chance Freeman will look outside the staff to become coordinator given the prestige of the position. The last four Notre Dame defensive coordinators have been Power 4 head coaches or, in Golden’s case, an NFL defensive coordinator. This makes the position a potential career launching pad for whoever fills it next. — Pete Sampson, Notre Dame writer
(Photo: Matt Cashore / Imagn Images)
