Now entering his third year as the defensive coordinator at Notre Dame, Al Golden has cemented himself as one of the best defensive play callers in college football. His unit finished the 2023 season as one of the best in the country, ranking first in pass efficiency defense (94.91), second in red zone defense (.706), fourth in pass yards allowed per game (154.2) and eighth in total defense (282.9). Returning several core players, including Bronko Nagurski winner graduate safety Xavier Watts and fellow First Team All-American selection graduate defensive lineman Howard Cross III, Golden’s group has continued to excel. And while talent has played a role, Golden has set his guys up for success all season.
Losing defensive leader JD Bertrand at linebacker last season, Golden inherited a talented young core to rotate in his place beside graduate student Jack Kiser. Junior Jaylen Sneed, sophomores Jaiden Ausberry and Drayk Bowen and freshman Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa have all gotten a run at the position, each showing flashes at different times. Sneed had a strong performance in the opener against Texas A&M, shooting gaps in the run game all night with five tackles, including a tackle for loss. Ausberry was one of the few bright spots in the Northern Illinois loss, logging six tackles, three solo stops and a crucial pass breakup. Bowen broke out against Louisville with a career-high five solo tackles, a TFL, a forced fumble and a pass breakup. Viliamu-Asa responded from a terrible blunder in pass coverage against NIU to haul in his first career interception against Purdue and was just named to On3’s Midseason True Freshman All-American Team. For each of these highs, there have been lows along the way, but Golden has done an exemplary job developing this young core. When asked about the group in Tuesday’s post-practice press conference, he expressed his outlook on their progress.
“Just keep improving,” Golden said. “We’ve identified some things we need to fix. Obviously [we] had a little chance to breathe last week and see how people were attacking us. We think there are some things that we can do to help them become better, become more productive. Just continue to prepare, make the game small through your preparation, play fast and enjoy the battle.”
The emphasis on playing fast has been evident all season. Even when the group has struggled to read out run plays, particularly some of the misdirection designs against NIU, the speed at which it plays has never been in question. Golden has harnessed the group’s athleticism and honed its understanding of opposing offenses. His development is why the arrow continues to point up from week to week.
In the press conference, Golden stayed modest when asked how he causes hesitancy in the minds of opposing offensive coaches.
“I don’t think anybody’s hesitant. I think we’ve faced some really good offenses and some great coordinators,” Golden said. “In terms of how other people call the game, we’ve seen everything in the first five games.”
His assessment of the opposing offenses may be generous, but it is not far off regarding Louisville, with the Cardinals ranking 15th in total offense for the season. Golden’s defense is doing more than just slowing these offenses down, however. It ranks in the top 15 for just about every important metric: eighth in opponent points per game, 14th in yards per game, seventh in points per play and 10th in yards per play to name a few. More importantly, it has delivered in massive moments, shutting down the Aggie offense for four quarters in the season opener and overcoming multiple field-position disadvantages from Irish turnovers to defeat Louisville. Golden’s first statement regarding the hesitancy he causes is up for debate. His third-down blitz packages have given offensive coordinators problems all season and have led to multiple stops in high-leverage moments. For the year, opponents have converted only 28.6% of their third downs against the Irish, his play-calling being a huge reason why.
What makes the achievements of Golden’s defense all the more impressive is the adversity it has had to overcome in the health department. Already entering the season down senior reserve tackle Gabriel Rubio, the Irish then lost graduate student vyper Jordan Botelho for the season against Purdue. The group got even thinner when sophomore vyper Boubacar Traore tore his ACL in the first half against Louisville.
“I still like the rotation,” Golden said. “I’d also like to see some other guys step up and earn some more playing time.”
He went on to stress the importance of getting more contributions across the entire defense, especially down the stretch of the season. For as good of a job as he’s done, there remains the threat that at some point, a group gets stretched too thin.
Looking ahead to Stanford, Golden discussed what he expects from the matchup and the respect he has for the Cardinal offense.
“They present a lot of different challenges to you,” Golden explained. “Every play is a challenge. An alignment challenge, a shift challenge, a motion challenge. We have to do a good job adjusting to that.”
He knows all too well, especially after what happened in 2022, how important it is not to look past this game.
“We know what’s at stake, and we know what’s coming in here,” Golden said.
Through five games, Notre Dame’s defense under Golden has picked up exactly where it left off last season. Given a bye week to recover and go to the drawing board, expect him to have the Irish defense ready on Saturday.
