Notre Dame defensive coordinator Al Golden spoke to the media after the eighth practice of the spring, on Saturday. It was his first interview since singing a four-year contract extension in February. Here's everything he had to say:
After some speculation this winter about you possibly moving on, you returned and signed a four-year contract extension. What influenced your thinking?
“I'm excited to be here. It's a blessing obviously to be on the staff and work for this institution. And it's even a greater blessing to be able to coach these kids. So, to me that's what's fun. That's what makes you get up, work hard and do all the little things you’ve got to do to make these kids as good as they can be. And that's what's fun.”
You had some staff changes with Chris O’Leary leaving, Max Bullough being promoted, Mike Mickens taking on some more responsibility, and Marty Biagi helping coach DBs. How do you feel like all those changes are playing out this spring?
“I love our staff. Max deserved the promotion. Mick deserves his promotion. Marty has been great in his supporting role. And we brought in some young talent in terms of quality control and GAs who have really, really fortified the room. So, I love our staff. I love the direction that we're going. Again, we're in the first inning of this season. I mean, we’ve got a long way to go. I don't even know if we're out of the first inning and yet we’ve got to see who we are and how we develop and then go from there.”
It seems when you’re out there coaching in practice, you're spending more time with the defensive backs and safeties, but you're able to bounce around a bit more. What has it been like for you to have that freedom to be in different areas and not just one?
“Just trust. I mean, we ask the players to be empowered and to lead and make decisions on the grass, and it's no different for the coaches. If I have a lot of coaching points or a lot of things that I want to talk about with the coaches, we do that upstairs. And then when we get down here, just complete trust in what they do, and my role is to support them, to make sure they have everything they need and maybe pull somebody aside after Mick has taught or after Max has taught and say, ‘You know, look at this. Try to do this a little bit better.’ So, from that standpoint, it's been great, and it really allows me to plan ahead and really delve down. And that's been great, just being able to operate that way this spring.”
What did you see out of Max Bullough maybe a year ago that let you know when a spot came open this spring, he’d be ready?
“He's smart. He's talented. He has experience, because he played the position, and I think he's tough. There's a mental toughness aspect to going through what he did as a GA, whether it's at Alabama or here. I did it for three years. It's tough. It's hard, and he exemplified that. Whether it's drawing cards or doing the breakdown or all the little details that are going to make you a better coach, he did that at a really high level. And he earned that opportunity. So, I'm glad he's with us.”
What's the toughest thing you remember doing as a GA? What was the longest day you might have had?
“Whoa. [Laughs]. We didn't have all these cut-ups like these guys. We had to make our own cut-ups. You were doing scouting reports by hand, but all of that is part of it. Like coach O'Brien said when I first started, ‘You don't want to skip that. If you skip that learning, or that step, there's a hole in who you are as a coach.’ And being a young GA and breaking down all these different offenses and learning how offenses are attacking you as you're breaking it down and trying to help your staff understand on Sunday, Monday of game week, ‘Hey, this is how they're attacking us’ — like that's a big step. And I think that's probably what I remember most.”
Speaking of attacking offenses, what's it like interacting with Mike Denbrock and what are your impressions about his scheme?
“I think they do a great job and obviously excited about what he's doing for us as a team, and then also excited when — I just saw Mitch [Evans] walk by — when Mitch gets back and Riley [Leonard] is healthy. And there's some other guys I don't know if I could talk about them or not. But just the full accompaniment. So, I'm excited for that and we're really glad Mike's here.”
Luke Talich made a lot of his impact on special teams last year. What have you seen this spring on defense?
“Luke’s smart and he cares. I think the biggest thing with Luke is how quickly can we get him to transition from knowing it to playing with his heart to playing with energy and doing all that. And that's a tough little journey for a lot of guys, and everybody takes it at a different speed, if you will. And that's the journey we're trying to help him through right now — to have it go from his head to his heart, so he's not thinking as much, so he's not worried about this, or ‘if they do that …’ Just go play. And so, it gets a little bit challenging in the spring, because we're installing a lot, but I expect him to catch up here shortly.”
From a coaching standpoint, your team has changed from year to year. You go from having a bunch of fifth-year linebackers to sophomores. What's the process like for you as a coach as you evaluate, OK, here's what these guys can handle compared to maybe what you had? How do you build up certain guys?
“I think that's it. I mean, that's what the spring is for, to figure out who you are and what you do best. And we're not the ’23 defense. We’re the ’24 defense. We could certainly learn a lot from what we did last year, but you can't really carry it forward, if you know what I mean. Each group has its own personality, its own leadership. So, we're waiting for all those things to kind of emerge, and we're trying to decide as we go.”
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After some speculation this winter about you possibly moving on, you returned and signed a four-year contract extension. What influenced your thinking?
“I'm excited to be here. It's a blessing obviously to be on the staff and work for this institution. And it's even a greater blessing to be able to coach these kids. So, to me that's what's fun. That's what makes you get up, work hard and do all the little things you’ve got to do to make these kids as good as they can be. And that's what's fun.”
You had some staff changes with Chris O’Leary leaving, Max Bullough being promoted, Mike Mickens taking on some more responsibility, and Marty Biagi helping coach DBs. How do you feel like all those changes are playing out this spring?
“I love our staff. Max deserved the promotion. Mick deserves his promotion. Marty has been great in his supporting role. And we brought in some young talent in terms of quality control and GAs who have really, really fortified the room. So, I love our staff. I love the direction that we're going. Again, we're in the first inning of this season. I mean, we’ve got a long way to go. I don't even know if we're out of the first inning and yet we’ve got to see who we are and how we develop and then go from there.”
It seems when you’re out there coaching in practice, you're spending more time with the defensive backs and safeties, but you're able to bounce around a bit more. What has it been like for you to have that freedom to be in different areas and not just one?
“Just trust. I mean, we ask the players to be empowered and to lead and make decisions on the grass, and it's no different for the coaches. If I have a lot of coaching points or a lot of things that I want to talk about with the coaches, we do that upstairs. And then when we get down here, just complete trust in what they do, and my role is to support them, to make sure they have everything they need and maybe pull somebody aside after Mick has taught or after Max has taught and say, ‘You know, look at this. Try to do this a little bit better.’ So, from that standpoint, it's been great, and it really allows me to plan ahead and really delve down. And that's been great, just being able to operate that way this spring.”
What did you see out of Max Bullough maybe a year ago that let you know when a spot came open this spring, he’d be ready?
“He's smart. He's talented. He has experience, because he played the position, and I think he's tough. There's a mental toughness aspect to going through what he did as a GA, whether it's at Alabama or here. I did it for three years. It's tough. It's hard, and he exemplified that. Whether it's drawing cards or doing the breakdown or all the little details that are going to make you a better coach, he did that at a really high level. And he earned that opportunity. So, I'm glad he's with us.”
What's the toughest thing you remember doing as a GA? What was the longest day you might have had?
“Whoa. [Laughs]. We didn't have all these cut-ups like these guys. We had to make our own cut-ups. You were doing scouting reports by hand, but all of that is part of it. Like coach O'Brien said when I first started, ‘You don't want to skip that. If you skip that learning, or that step, there's a hole in who you are as a coach.’ And being a young GA and breaking down all these different offenses and learning how offenses are attacking you as you're breaking it down and trying to help your staff understand on Sunday, Monday of game week, ‘Hey, this is how they're attacking us’ — like that's a big step. And I think that's probably what I remember most.”
Speaking of attacking offenses, what's it like interacting with Mike Denbrock and what are your impressions about his scheme?
“I think they do a great job and obviously excited about what he's doing for us as a team, and then also excited when — I just saw Mitch [Evans] walk by — when Mitch gets back and Riley [Leonard] is healthy. And there's some other guys I don't know if I could talk about them or not. But just the full accompaniment. So, I'm excited for that and we're really glad Mike's here.”
Luke Talich made a lot of his impact on special teams last year. What have you seen this spring on defense?
“Luke’s smart and he cares. I think the biggest thing with Luke is how quickly can we get him to transition from knowing it to playing with his heart to playing with energy and doing all that. And that's a tough little journey for a lot of guys, and everybody takes it at a different speed, if you will. And that's the journey we're trying to help him through right now — to have it go from his head to his heart, so he's not thinking as much, so he's not worried about this, or ‘if they do that …’ Just go play. And so, it gets a little bit challenging in the spring, because we're installing a lot, but I expect him to catch up here shortly.”
From a coaching standpoint, your team has changed from year to year. You go from having a bunch of fifth-year linebackers to sophomores. What's the process like for you as a coach as you evaluate, OK, here's what these guys can handle compared to maybe what you had? How do you build up certain guys?
“I think that's it. I mean, that's what the spring is for, to figure out who you are and what you do best. And we're not the ’23 defense. We’re the ’24 defense. We could certainly learn a lot from what we did last year, but you can't really carry it forward, if you know what I mean. Each group has its own personality, its own leadership. So, we're waiting for all those things to kind of emerge, and we're trying to decide as we go.”
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