TODAY, 6:18pm: According to Albert Breer of TheMMQB, Golden is expected to interview with the Bengals at some point over the next 48 hours. Assuming all goes well, the team will then name Golden as their new defensive coordinator.
TODAY, 9:20am: With the college football season over, Al Golden is eligible to make a return to the pro coaching ranks. Notre Dame’s defensive coordinator appears to have his next NFL gig lined up. 
Golden is the Bengals’ top target for defensive coordinator, Mike Garafolo and Ian Rapoport of NFL Network report. Head coach Zac Taylor has paused his search for other candidates in anticipation of pursuing a hire in this case. Golden previously worked under Taylor as Cincinnati’s linebackers coach for the 2020 and ’21 seasons.
Paul Dehner Jr. of The Athletic confirms Golden has long been considered the top DC option for the Bengals. Over the next few days, he is expected to finish his tenure with the Fighting Irish (which began in 2022) with a Cincinnati interview likely to take place on Wednesday. After that, Dehner notes, it appears to “inevitable” Golden will be hired to return to the Bengals.
When Taylor was hired as head coach in 2019, he brought in Lou Anarumo as his first defensive coordinator. The latter remained in place for six years, but after the 2024 campaign he was fired. Anarumo has since agreed to charge of the Colts’ defense while the Bengals have yet to replace him. If all goes according to plan with Golden, though, that vacancy will be filled very shortly.
Cincinnati ranked sixth in the NFL in scoring this year, with Joe Burrow topping the league in passing and wideout Ja’Marr Chase winning the ‘Triple Crown’ by finishing first in receptions, yards and touchdowns. In spite of that, the team finished 9-8 and out of the postseason in large part due to defensive shortcomings. After finishing 25th in points and yards allowed, there is considerable room for improvement on that side of the ball moving forward. Golden – who has previously been a DC at Virginia in addition to his time in that capacity with Notre Dame – could soon find himself as an NFL coordinator for the first time.
Via PFR’s coordinator search tracker, here is an updated look at where things stand for the Bengals:
- DeMarcus Covington, defensive coordinator (Patriots): Interviewed
- Matt Eberflus, former head coach (Bears): Mentioned as candidate
- Al Golden, defensive coordinator (Notre Dame): Hire expected
- Patrick Graham, defensive coordinator (Raiders): Interviewed
- Wink Martindale, defensive coordinator (Michigan): Rumored candidate
His D last night looked about as good as Cinncy’s D all year. They was destroyed last night.
From SB Nation website: Notre Dame came into the National Championship ranked No. 2 in passing yards allowed and No. 41 in rushing defense. The Buckeyes took note of this and leaned heavily into the run game. In all, Ohio State rushed for 214 yards with Quinshon Judkins leading the way with 100 yards and two rushing scores on just 11 carries. Will Howard had a good day passing but Ohio State played bully ball along with the vertical passing attack, which made the overall offensive showing all the more impossible to stop.
One game doesn’t completely write him off. To have the number 2 ranked pass defense without the second best corner in the nation and your number 1 in Benjamin Morrison is really impressive considering their schedule
There seems to be an obsession on this website with overreacting to small sample sizes. Same reaction with Ben Johnson following Detroit’s playoff loss in some circles.
If employers were this picky, there’d be nobody left to hire.
Hard to argue. We argue about re-tread hires and the same w/ new hires.
Buckeye fan here… Aside from Judkins’ 75 yard run to open the 2nd half, and the big throw to Smith at the end of the game, that Notre Dame was tough.
ND’s problem was that after the first drive, the offense disappeared for the next 2 1/2 quarters.
Who?
Golden Showers.
The whole league had Lou figured out this year. Between that, Bell having lost a step, and Rankins playing like a cardboard cutout, and losing DJ Reader the defense looked like a peewee league team at times. The secondary can’t cover people for an hour and a half while the defensive line struggles to get to the QB. Pratt, Rankins, Hubbard, etc either hurt or old. Hopefully they’ll get Golden some help up front because the usual suspects won’t cut it. Although, watch the Colts snag guys as we cut them because they “know” Lou’s system. Looking back I’m not sure Sweet Lou was ever that good as a coordinator, maybe the personnel was just to good to fail.
This is typical Brown family bs. They can rationalize hiring someone who’s already worked for them, thus they don’t bother looking around at other candidates to see if he’s even the best one. Lazy and cheap. I truly feel sorry for Joe Burrow.
Did you miss the part at the end where it lists the others that were interviewed?