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Newsstand: Notre Dame coach Mike Mickens listed as ‘top candidate’ for Texas opening

Singer headshotby:Mike Singer•about 11 hours•

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Mike Mickens
Notre Dame defensive backs coach Mike Mickens. (Mike Miller/Blue & Gold)

Defensive backs coach Mike Mickens joined the Notre Dame staff in 2020 and has been a strong asset to the Fighting Irish football program. He’s entering year six in South Bend, and it’s no surprise other college (and reportedly NFL) teams are interested in him.

According to Orange Bloods’ Anwar Richardson, Mickens is a “top three” candidate for the Texas Longhorns safeties coach opening. The other reported candidates are Pitts’ Cory Sanders and Rutgers’ Mark Orphey.

It remains to be seen how interested Mickens is in this job and any other openings around the country in the professional and collegiate ranks, but sources have told Blue & Gold in the past couple weeks that Mickens is expected to remain at Notre Dame.

He did not get the promotion to become the Irish’s defensive coordinator, as head coach Marcus Freeman went with former Texas coordinator and ex-Rutgers head coach Chris Ash.

If Mickens were to leave for Texas, he would reunite with Terry Joseph, who was the Irish’s safeties coach from 2018-2020. Mickens was in his first year as Notre Dame’s cornerbacks coach and worked closely with Joseph that year.

Mickens is currently Notre Dame’s defensive backs coach and defensive pass game coordinator. Prior to the 2024 season, he had just been the Irish’s cornerbacks coach but oversaw the entire secondary. Ash has a background with coaching safeties and is expected to play a large role with that unit.

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Below is Richardson’s report on Mickens and the other “candidates” for the Texas job.

Notre Dame wideout Jordan Faison is back with the lacrosse team following some rest after the national championship game.

The No. 2 Fighting Irish women’s basketball team will have a sellout next week when it hosts Duke.

Quote of the day

“Well, we learned a lot from those losses. I think I learned the resilience of this group. We had to re-center everything we were focusing on, defensively, our mindset, our preparation, we start games a lot better. Everything shifted for us. I think it was a mentality, a mindset that shifted for this team. We knew our goals coming in.

“And for me as a coach, I know things they need to hear. I know things I need to do, in-game scenario adjustments and also just preparing them for games. We are prepared. This group, they want to win. They have a winning mindset. They’re very unselfish. I think we learned a lot about each other and we’re still growing and learning each other.”

— Irish women’s basketball head coach Niele Ivey on what she’s learned about her team during their 16-game winning streak

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