Notre Dame DC Al Golden compares college football, NFL: ‘The games are a lot closer than you think’

There is a lot to like about Al Golden’s resume. The new Irish defensive coordinator played on the offensive side of the ball, has coached on both sides of the ball, has served as a Power Five head coach, and has spent the last six years in the NFL. Oh yeah, and he helped lead his most recent professional team to a Super Bowl. 

Pretty impressive body of work. 

If there’s one concern floating around amongst the Irish faithful, it’s that Golden has been away from college football since 2015. Does he still intimately understand the ever-evolving college game?

On Wednesday, Golden spoke with the media about the college and NFL systems. Does he feel he’s at a disadvantage having been away from college football since 2015?

“The game has evolved a lot, and the games are closer than you think now, in terms of what’s going on in the NFL and what’s going on in college,” Golden said. “We’re getting the RPOs, the (zone-reads) and things of that nature in the NFL now. So from that standpoint, it’s a little bit closer than you would imagine.”

In addition to the increase in heavy run-pass option (RPO) offenses, the quarterback play in the pros is changing. It’s shifting to resemble some of the play seen at the college level.

Just a decade ago, successful dual-threat NFL quarterbacks were the unicorns, not the norm. Now, that is changing. “Pro-style pocket passer” is becoming less and less of a blanket term for NFL signal-callers, as dual-threat quarterbacks like Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes and Arizona’s Kyler Murray run laps around NFL defenses to drive their teams down the field. 

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Of course, there are changes in college football that have occurred in recent years. Golden seems to have identified what he doesn’t know, and he’s charging ahead to learn.

“I think most of the things that they’re going to catch me up on is what’s going on off the field,” the newly minted DC said. “We had a meeting on that today, and we’re working through that.”

College football has gone through an off-field transformation in recent years, including the deregulation of name, image and likeness (NIL), the creation of the one-time transfer rule and various changes in recruiting and the ways in which coaches try to land recruits, particularly the use of social media. Golden has an extensive background in top-notch recruiting, he will just need to tweak some things to get up to speed. 

What was Golden’s biggest takeaway from six years in the pros?

After citing the similarities and differences between the two levels of football, Golden shared his biggest takeaway from the experience in the NFL and how it might apply to his new gig. 

“The NFL is about problem solving,” Golden said. “Everybody thinks, ‘Oh (those were) great halftime adjustments.’ I’m going to tell you right now, by the time you get into the (locker room in the) NFL, you’re turning around and going out. It’s a 12-minute halftime, and a lot of guys have to get an IV, get medical treatment or whatever it is. So you’re working.

“The point I’m making is those adjustments are made after every series, and I think that’s the one thing that the NFL has taught me, how to make those adjustments and how to solve problems. You have to be a problem solver in the NFL constantly, in terms of the matchups or who we need to eliminate on offense. Those types of things. So I think from that standpoint, I feel really good about that.”

A reference to series-to-series defensive adjustments is a timely topic for Notre Dame. The last time Irish fans saw their defense, it was in the second half of the Fiesta Bowl, where they were slowly broken down by Oklahoma State. In-game adjustments would’ve been welcomed in that situation. Hopefully for Notre Dame fans, Golden can deliver.