Quick hitters: Notre Dame DC Al Golden on Texas A&M, replacing Gabriel Rubio

Irish defensive coordinator Al Golden spoke to reporters Friday after Notre Dame’s third practice of fall camp.

Here’s what Golden had to say.

On preparing for Texas A&M, who brought in offensive coordinator Collin Klein from Kansas State

“There’s definitely a balance. The personnel is, obviously, the A&M film. Kansas State is more of a philosophy and then seeing where they go. What does the O-line coach like to do? What does the wide receiver coach like to do? What does the running back coach like to do? It’s that confluence that comes together in the opening game.

“This is the second year in a row where we didn’t know what we were going to see. Everybody said, ‘Oh, yeah. You’re going to see this from Navy.’ We didn’t see anything from Navy in the first 15 plays that we thought we were going to see. So, it is what it is. How do you handle it? You manage your own variables and keep your variables quiet and rely on your fundamentals. And then, hopefully, have enough leadership to withstand anything that you could not have practiced early, and just move forward.” 

On filling the defensive tackle void left by Gabriel Rubio, who fractured his foot and will miss significant time?

“Well, it’s a great question. Obviously, Donnie [Donovan Hinish] and Jason [Onye] have benefited greatly from the spring. Armel [Mukam] has really stepped up. Cole Mullins has played a lot, too. So, I would say from that group will be the fifth and sixth in Gabe’s absence. And then obviously, hopefully, we’re not too long without Gabe. We’ll see how that goes.” 

From a football 101 standpoint, what does it mean when people say Notre Dame runs an NFL-style defense?

“For instance, we’re not a 3-3 defense, which nobody in the NFL runs. So, we’re not that. We’re not from that family. We’re not in a situation where we’re just playing like three-match 80% of the time. We’re doing a variety of different things. We play a number of coverages. We are not afraid to mix our personnel up on third down. Some teams are rigid, and the ends play end on third down, and the tackles play tackle, and linebackers play linebacker. But to make it difficult against protections, you want to have guys that are multiple, that can play different spots. Does that give you an idea?”

Reporter: “Yes.”

“The thing that you become very proud of as a coach is that when the guys come back from the combine or they come back from the Senior Bowl, and they say, ‘Yeah, we were all over it. We had the answers to the test because of those things.’ Those fundamentals that are built into situational football— all of those things. It’s a little bit more of an undertaking, but when you get it in the locker room, it’s fun. It’s fun to come to work every day.” 

On the subject of third-down personnel, who are some non-starters at Notre Dame who can rush the passer in situations like that?

“It’s a big group right now. The nice thing right now in terms of ends and Vypers, those guys are all in the mix to play multiple spots. Some of them could play inside. Some of them could play outside. Then you have the lengthy linebackers. Kyngstonn [Viliamu-Asa] comes to mind. Guys like that have an opportunity. Like Marist was kind of a spinner last year — inside, outside, off the ball. So, when you have length in your system, when you can recruit to that, it just gives you a lot of different answers.”

How has Drayk Bowen done?

“Very good. I didn’t realize — I feel like Drayk has been around for a while. And Jaiden Ausberry has been around for a while. And Jaylen Sneed. So, I don’t really look at it like — I know we lost two starters to the NFL, but I hope we have a bunch of NFL guys coming up too. And a bunch of guys that really gleaned a lot from whatever their role was a year ago and being in those meeting rooms. But I don’t look at it like any drop-off. And I’m pretty sure Max [Bullough], in that room, is up for the challenge in terms anybody on the outside saying, ‘How are we going to replace? How are we going to play?’ Yeah, they’re ready to go. They’ll be ready to go.” 

What makes Hinish effective despite being undersized?

“Leverage, quickness. Undersized is in the eye of the beholder a little bit. But if you can play with a good pad level, you have quick hands, if you could transition to a pass rush really quick, if you can get in between two blockers, then what’s the extra two inches going to do for you? And Coach Al [Washington] does a great job of just mixing that group. It’s not just Howard [Cross] and Rylie [Mills]. It’s Rylie going with Donnie. It’s Howard going with Jason. It’s all those different groupings. Same thing at end and at vyper. That’s what’s going to make us deeper, because you can’t always predict how guys align on game day horizontally.” 

How have you seen Marcus Freeman blend the traditional elements of Notre Dame with modernizing from a recruiting standpoint?

“It’s awesome. It’s awesome. I’ve said it a million times. You got the right guy at the right time for an incredible institution. And the way he leads the program every day, just the care that he has for the kids. The way he lays out the plan. Again, and from a recruiting standpoint, just he is who he is. Like, you can’t fake that culture.

“When recruits and parents are up there in the spring and there’s a team meeting, that’s Marcus. That’s who he is. He’s the first one here every day. That’s the way he is at 5:30 [a.m.] and that’s way he is at nine o’clock at night. That’s the way he is after a tough loss. That’s the way he is after an exhilarating win. He’s the same guy every day, and that’s what everybody’s fighting for in the building. That’s why everybody’s so motivated. And that’s why the kids will do anything they can for him.”