Notebook: How Al Golden's piecing together his defense for Notre Dame

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — An offseason for Notre Dame defensive coordinator Al Golden would require some time away from football. That has yet to happen for Golden in 2022.

Some of Golden’s friends in the coaching community have joked that he’s entering Week 32 of the 2021-22 season after transitioning to Notre Dame from his position as linebackers coach with the Cincinnati Bengals.

The Bengals played their first preseason game on Aug. 14. They ended their season with a loss in the Super Bowl on Feb. 13. Three days later, Golden was officially added to Notre Dame’s coaching staff. He’s been working to learn Notre Dame’s defensive personnel, install his twist on a defensive scheme and find his footing on the figurative recruiting trail ever since then.

“The season just kept going,” Golden said Thursday after Notre Dame’s fourth spring practice, which began one week prior. “There will be a break here somewhere, but right now we're just pushing and the kids are responding, so it's awesome.”

The flow of information from the coaching staff to the players has been pretty constant to get everyone up to speed. Meetings are crucial. Studying information shared electronically is paramount.

“We’re learning a lot about our team,” Golden said. “Hopefully they're learning about a lot of things that we're trying to do from a coaching standpoint, from a technical standpoint and obviously from a tactical standpoint. We're blessed. It's a great group. They want to get better every day. They come to work every day. Really, really unselfish group.”

Golden has quickly learned how well some of the more experienced players are handling the adjustments to the defense. That allows his coaching staff to spend more time building depth within the defense. The leaders on the team are allowing that to happen at an increased rate.

“We don’t need to over-rep some of the older guys right now,” Golden said. “(Linebacker) Jack Kiser doesn’t need 50 reps a day. As long as he can establish that he knows the new material, get him out and get some of the younger guys in.

“There’s a lot of peer pressure right now to bring the young guys along. To really, ‘Hey, this is how we do it. This is how we study. This is how we take notes. This is what a walk-through looks like. This is how you prepare.’ From that standpoint, as long as they’re going to continue to lead each other, that’s going to take hold.”

As the players learn what Golden wants to achieve with his defense, Golden continues to learn what defensive weapons he has at his disposal. The concepts that are being introduced now can be sharpened with a better knowledge of the personnel.

Position versatility is being emphasized in the present. More permanent position switches can be made later.

“We're teaching the guys the concepts and then if we have to move the pieces around as we evolve in spring or maybe in the summer, we will,” Golden said. “If there's a body type or personality that's better in this position, we’ll put him in that position.

“But the guys have been willing. They know to build great depth you have to play multiple spots. Just trying to get a feel for the guys, especially the guys that aren't in the linebacker room. I’ve been doing that. I've been working with (defensive line coach Al Washington) with the D-line a lot in the pass rush stuff and really trying to get more involved with the secondary as well.”

The players hold the coaching staff to a high standard as well. Golden has to be prepared to answer nuanced questions that knowledgeable players have fired his way.

That back and forth can prepare players to make decisions on the fly.

“We don't want to stress when there's an issue on the field,” Golden said. “We want to problem-solve. Then obviously get locked in and play the down. They’re doing a good job with that.”

The stress can be left to a coaching staff that’s putting the pieces together without much of a head start.

“We're just trying to push every day to get to the finish line,” Golden said. “We're like on the plant floor every day trying to get the car out like the assembly line. So that's really where we're at.

“We're not really living. We're not looking ahead to the next install or the install after that. We want to make this install as good as we can. We're going to go back in here, watch it and correct what we have to correct. If we don't like things, get rid of it and move on.”

Some of the quality control of Notre Dame’s defense runs through a trio of new defensive analysts: James Laurinaitis, Ronnie Regula and Jeremy Larkin. They work with others to prepare printed material and video to help review and make adjustments.

Regula and Larkin joined Notre Dame’s staff from Miami and Northwestern, respectively. Laurinaitis, a college teammate of head coach Marcus Freeman at Ohio State and NFL linebacker for eight seasons (2009-16), is making his coaching debut. He previously worked as a college football analyst for the Big Ten Network and sports radio host in Columbus, Ohio.

Laurinaitis' playing experience brings a lot of value to the Irish.

“He gives us that vantage point,” Golden said, “of ‘Hey, guys, did you ever think of looking at this?’ or ‘Hey, coach, it’s really hard for them to key this in this situation. How about doing this?’ That kind of thing.

“James has been great. James was obviously wildly successful both in college and the NFL. But to humble yourself and say, ‘You know what? I want to do this as my vocation,’ and to really say, ‘OK, I’m going to start on the ground floor,’ to learn how to break things down, to learn how to do all the little things you have to do as you’re growing. For him to do that really speaks volumes about him as a man and the character of him.”

Notre Dame’s nose guard position took an unfortunate loss last week when junior Aidan Keannaaina suffered a torn ACL in his knee. The Irish are also operating without starting defensive tackle Jayson Ademilola this spring as he recovers from offseason shoulder surgery.

Three healthy interior defensive linemen have more experience than the rest: seniors Jacob Lacey and Howard Cross III and junior Rylie Mills. Lacey and Cross have both played nose guard and defensive tackle at Notre Dame. Mills has played defensive tackle and end.

Golden values that versatility up front.

“That's going to make us tougher to block,” Golden said, “rather than ‘OK, when the three (technique) is here, or the shade is here, this is what it looks like, this guy's always here. This guy's always lined up here.’ Those guys have been doing a good job of kind of multitasking, if you will, and just learning as many different skill sets as they can.”

Sophomores Gabriel Rubio and Jason Onye are getting more chances to prove themselves as depth options.

“Some of the young guys, Onye, those guys have to step up. I like the guys. All those guys. Lace is doing a good job. Howard’s doing a good job. Rube’s doing a good job. It's fun. They're all working hard.”

“I feel badly for Aidan, obviously. He's such a tough kid, just a really, really strong, tough kid. I was excited to get to work with him. But it's just a bump in the road for him. He's going to handle it the right way and come back and we'll work with him to get him back stronger. Overall the group has responded. They’re rugged and coach Washington is coaching them hard.”

• Golden inherited one of the top returning pass rushers in college football in senior Isaiah Foskey, who decided to not enter the NFL Draft early after finishing last season with 11 sacks.

“I’m excited to work with him,” Golden said. “First of all, he’s a tremendous young man. Just so much fun to be around. Works really hard. He’s humble. He lets you coach him. There’s no doubt we have to make sure we put him in the right position to be as productive as he can be. He’s up for it.”

• The public intrigue in junior Jordan Botelho has outpaced his production as a special teams contributor and defensive reserve. Botelho has been slotted as a linebacker on the current roster, but he’s worked at vyper defensive end during his career too. Finding a role for Botelho remains on Golden’s to-do list.

"I love the versatility of Jordan. I really do,” Golden said. “He is a tough kid. He's a very smart kid. We just have to get him to play with a little more poise. He wants to chase, chase, chase. He has to relax a little bit and let his natural talent come out. We're going to help him with that.

"Guys that are versatile can do many things for you. In his case, he's got enough length to play on the edge, play inside and he's played rover. He could play vyper for us.

“That's tough to identify if you're on the other side. Really like his progress and I'm going to keep working with him to try to get him to slow down a little bit and let him speed his game up because he's playing with a little more poise."

• The 6-foot-1, 222-pound Prince Kollie underwent a pretty significant physical transformation since arriving at Notre Dame last June. His version of the Freshman 15 resulted in his body fat rising to 20%. With some changes to his diet and working with director of football performance Matt Balis, Kollie trimmed down to 7.7% body fat.

The culprit? Chicken finger chain Raising Cane’s in Mishawaka.

“I had a rough going with Cane’s,” Kollie said. “As a freshman, I was ordering Cane’s a lot.”

• Notre Dame will hold its Pro Day on Friday for NFL Draft hopefuls. Former Notre Dame players will take part in measurements, testing and position drills in front of NFL personnel inside the Irish Athletics Center.

Safety Kyle Hamilton, running back Kyren Williams, wide receiver Kevin Austin Jr., defensive end Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa, quarterback Jack Coan, nose guard Kurt Hinish, linebackers Drew White and Isaiah Pryor, kicker Jonathan Doerer and offensive lineman Cain Madden are among those expected to participate.

Peacock will stream two hours of coverage from Notre Dame’s Pro Day starting at 12:30 p.m. EDT.

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