Al Golden 2024-25 Football Staff

THE GOLDEN FILE

Hometown: Colts Neck, New Jersey
High School: Red Bank (N.J.) Catholic High
College: Penn State (Pre-Law, 1992)
Wife: Kelly
Children: Daughters – Addison and Grace;  Son – A.J.

PLAYING EXPERIENCE

1988-91 Penn State Tight End
1992 New England Patriots Tight End

COACHING CAREER

1993 Red Bank Catholic HS Offensive Coordinator
1994-96 Virginia Graduate Assistant
1997-99 Boston College Linebackers
2000 Penn State Linebackers
2001-05 Virginia Defensive Coordinator
2006-10 Temple Head Coach
2011-15 Miami (FL) Head Coach
2016-17 Detroit Lions Tight Ends
2018-19 Detroit Lions Linebackers
2020-21 Cincinnati Bengals Linebackers
2022- Bob Hinton Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers

BOWLS COACHED

1994 Virginia (Independence)
1995 Virginia (Peach)
1996 Virginia (Carquest)
1999 Boston College (Insight.com)
2002 Virginia (Continental Tire)
2003 Virginia (Continental Tire)
2004 Virginia (MPC Computers)
2005 Virginia (Music City)
2009 Temple (EagleBank)
2013 Miami (Russell Athletic)
2014 Miami (Independence)
2015 Miami (Sun)
2016 Detroit Lions (Wild Card)
2021 Cincinnati Bengals (Super Bowl)
2022 Notre Dame (Gator)
2023 Notre Dame (Sun)

PERSONAL INFORMATION

• Golden was a three-year letter winner and two-year starter at tight end at Penn State.
• He was the 1991 recipient of Penn State’s Ridge Riley Award, given annually to a football player who displays excellence in scholarship, sportsmanship, friendship and leadership. He also served as team captain of the 1992 Nittany Lion squad that won the Fiesta Bowl.
• After graduating, he spent one year in the NFL with the New England Patriots, before turning his attention to coaching.

COACHING ACCOMPLISHMENTS

• Golden completed his 31st year coaching and second season at Notre Dame in 2023.
• The Irish defense finished off the 2023 as one of the top units in the country. Notre Dame ranked first the country in pass efficiency defense (94.91), second in red zone defense (.706), fourth in pass yards allowed (154.2) and eighth in total defense (282.9).
• The 2023 defensive unit was not only one of the best in the country for the season, it is historically one of the best units the Irish have fielded in program history. The ’23 defense ranks among the top-six all-time at Notre Dame in eight different categories, including opponent pass-yards-per-attempt (1st, 5.4), total pass yards allowed (1st, 1,85) and opponent yards-per-play (2nd. 4.4).
• Golden’s defensive plan in 2023 allowed junior safety Xavier Watts to produce one of the most disruptive defensive seasons in the nation. Watts earned the Bronco Nagurski Award as the nation’s top defender after leading the country in interceptions with seven as he piled up five interceptions over a three-game span. Watts was a back-to-back national defensive player of the week in the victories over Southern Cal and Pittsburgh, intercepting four passes, forcing a fumble and recovering another fumble and returning it for a touchdown against the Trojans.
• The 2023 season also saw senior Howard Cross III earn multiple All-America awards as one of the best interior defensive linemen in the country. A Bednarik Award semifinalist, Cross III piled up 64 tackles during the 2023 regular season, which is tied for the lead for a defensive lineman among Power 5 players and is the most for a Notre Dame front-four lineman since Trevor Laws piled up 112 in 2007.
• Coordinated the 21st-ranked total defense in the nation in 2022 with the Irish, helping the team to a 9-4 record and a victory in the Gator Bowl.
• Helped lead one of the best pass-rush defenses in the nation in 2022, as the Irish finished 15th in the country in sacks per game (2.92), led by All-American defensive end Isaiah Foskey with 11 sacks in ’22. Foskey also set the school record for sacks in a career, finishing with 26.5.
• Saw Benjamin Morrison earn Freshman All-America honors as the only rookie in the country with five interceptions, which is the most for an Irish player since 2012. Morrison became the 15th Notre Dame player to pick off three passes in a game, matching the school record, in the victory over Boston College.
• Worked with the Irish linebacking corps to see JD Bertrand (82), Jack Kiser (58) and Marist Liufau (51) finish as the top-three tacklers on the team.
• The Irish finished 36th in rushing defense in 2022, allowing just 131.1 yards per game.
• Prior to his time at Notre Dame, he spent two seasons as the linebackers coach with the Cincinnati Bengals. 
• In 2021 under Golden’s guidance, linebacker Logan Wilson was a standout for the Bengals as he led the defense with four interceptions in the regular season and made the game-saving pick against the Titans off a deflection in the playoffs.
• Linebacker Germaine Pratt had a big season as well, and made the game-winning interception against the Las Vegas Raiders to seal Cincinnati’s first playoff win in 31 years.
• In 2020, without the benefit of an in-person offseason program due to COVID-19, Golden guided a young Bengals linebacking corps that featured three rookie draft picks and a 2020 unrestricted free agent signee.
• The steady development of those young linebackers paralleled the Bengals’ improved defense as the season went along, as they helped hold opposing quarterbacks to just a 62.8 completion percentage, sixth-best in the NFL.
• Golden spent 2016-19 as an assistant with the Detroit Lions, where he was tight ends coach his first two seasons, before moving to linebackers coach for his final two.
• As linebackers coach, Golden’s squad helped key a massive defensive turnaround that saw the team rank 10th in the NFL in total defense, a 17-spot improvement over 2017 and 10th in rush defense, up eight spots from 2017.
• Prior to his time in Detroit, Golden coached in the college ranks for 23 seasons, including 10 as a head coach — Temple University from 2006-10, and Miami (Fla.) from ’11-15.
• He won numerous awards during his time as a head coach, including 2009 MAC Coach of the Year while at Temple, and the 2013 Lombardi Award for Excellence in Coaching while at Miami.
• He was named to the Temple Athletics Hall of Fame’s class of 2020.
• In 2012, Golden’s second season at Miami, the Hurricanes won the ACC’s Coastal Division championship, despite the program undergoing an NCAA investigation for violations that occurred prior to his arrival.
• Golden’s first head coaching assignment came at Temple, where he sparked one of the greatest turnarounds in college football history.
• Golden led the Owls to winning records in each of his last two seasons, after the school had achieved just two total winning seasons over its previous 26 years.
• His 2009 Temple squad finished 9-4 and tied for the MAC East Division title (7-1 record), earning a spot in the EagleBank Bowl, which was Temple’s first bowl game since 1979 and only the third in the program’s 112 years of existence.
• The team’s nine wins in 2009 were also the second most in school history (program started in 1894).
• From 2001-05, Golden served as defensive coordinator at the University of Virginia, under head coach Al Groh.
• At the time he was hired in 2001, Golden was the youngest defensive coordinator in FBS (formerly Division I-A).
• He worked closely with the Cavaliers’ inside linebackers from 2001-04, and the defensive backfield in ’05.
• Prior to his tenure at Virginia, Golden was linebackers coach and a recruiting coordinator at his alma mater, Penn State, in 2000.
• He spent the previous three seasons (1997-99) as the linebackers coach at Boston College, after beginning his college coaching career as a graduate assistant at Virginia from ’94-96.
• Golden launched his coaching career in 1993, as offensive coordinator at his alma mater, Red Bank (N.J.) Catholic High School.