Bengals Honor New DC Al Golden After He Wins College Football’s Top Assistant Award

The Fighting Irish defense suffered multiple key injuries last year, yet the defense never took a step back. Not when Notre Dame lost defensive back Benjamin Morrison against Stanford or defensive lineman Rylie Mills in the College Football Playoff against Indiana. Golden kept bringing in guys off the bench and made them look just as good as the man previously ahead of them on the depth chart.

And let's be honest, if Notre Dame plans on getting back to the National Championship game this year, they're going to need new defensive coordinator Chris Ash to be nearly just as good as Golden was. That's asking for a lot, but with expectations so high after getting so close to winning a National Title a year ago, that's where the bar stands. Ash has an impressive resume as a coordinator, coach, and scout, but this might be the most pressure he's ever felt during his entire coaching tenure.

And if the Fighting Irish defense doesn't perform like it did a year ago, don't be entirely shocked if head coach Marcus Freeman takes over the defensive play-calling duties. Freeman has yet to call a defensive play since being named Notre Dame's head coach, but he was Notre Dame's defensive coordinator before Brian Kelly left for LSU right before the 2022 Fiesta Bowl -- and a darn good one -- so it's not like he doesn't have experience calling the plays on defense.

Surprisingly to some, Golden was just as good as Freeman was as defensive coordinator. And after an abysmal 2024 season defensively, the Bengals fired defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo after six years and tagged Golden as his replacement. And while most teams need an extra player or two to get them over the hump, Golden very well could be the missing piece in Cincinnati.

Head Coach Zac Taylor is an excellent offensive play caller, and Joe Burrow and Ja'Marr Chase are arguably the two best players in the NFL at their position, so if Golden can make Cincinnati's defense just average, they very well could win the Super Bowl. The Bengals will have to get past the Kansas City Chiefs and Buffalo Bills in the AFC, but they've done that before. The Bengals did get to the Super Bowl four years ago, and with Golden now calling the defensive plays, Cincinnati very well could be a team to beat this year in the NFL.