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Newsstand: 'Current expectation' is Notre Dame DC Al Golden leaves for Bengals, per On3 report

IMG_7504by:Jack Soble•about 10 hours•

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al golden-4
Notre Dame defensive coordinator Al Golden. (Chad Weaver, Blue & Gold)

Notre Dame defensive coordinator Al Golden will interview for the same job with the Cincinnati Bengals, according to a report from On3’s Pete Nakos.

Nakos said the interview will take place within the next 48 hours — in a report that came out Tuesday afternoon — and that the “current expectation” is Golden will leave the Irish for the NFL.

“Golden was a member of the Cincinnati staff that went to the Super Bowl in 2022,” Golden said. “He’s maintained close relationships with members inside the building, including [Bengals head coach Zac] Taylor.“

Rumors about Golden’s status have swirled since the Bengals fired their previous defensive coordinator, Lou Anarumo, after the 2024 regular season. Seconds after Notre Dame lost to Ohio State in the national championship game, NFL Network reporter Ian Rapoport posted on social media that Golden has “emerged as a top candidate to be the Bengals’ new DC.”

Golden maintained throughout Notre Dame’s College Football Playoff run that his sole focus was on the task at hand. Now that the season has concluded, though, he’s free to explore a return to Cincinnati.

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Quote of the day, from Al Golden

“It’s not a team or a culture that was — how do you say it? It wasn’t store-bought, you know what I mean? It was from the ground up, and it’s built with bricks, it’s built with mortar and it’s built to last. It’s built for the long haul, and that’s culture. That’s the biggest thing, when Coach Freeman identifies recruits and recruits’ families is who matches our culture and who’s gonna add, contribute to the culture and the community and the team. I think that’s the thing that I see, that’s the greatest strength of the program right now is that it’s become a culture. It’s become a way of life in how we want to do things. And like I said, he built it the right way and it’s built to last. It’s built to make runs.”

— Golden on Notre Dame’s growth since he arrived in South Bend in February 2022

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