CINCINNATI — In many ways, Al Golden never left.
He served as the Cincinnati Bengals’ linebackers coach in 2020 and 2021, culminating in a trip to Super Bowl LVI. He and his wife Kelly, along with three children A.J., Addison and Grace found a home in the transient life of following their father the football coach around the country.
So, when Notre Dame came calling, “you have to listen,” Golden said to The Athletic.
You do. And Golden did, eventually taking the job as defensive coordinator for Marcus Freeman. An easy decision professionally, however, was gutting personally.
He didn’t want his kids to change high schools and go through another move at this point.
So when he took the job, he never sold his house. His family never moved.
Instead, while constructing one of the most dominant defenses in college football over the last three years, Golden regularly made the 248-mile trek between Cincinnati and South Bend.
“My first day on the job I got a ticket,” Golden said. “My first day. My very first day on the job, so, that was the only ticket I got.”
Not shockingly, Golden made the correction. It fits the no-nonsense narrative of attention to detail and finding a way to make it all work. True both in defense and commuting across Indiana. Both are areas he knows as…
