It sure sounds like Al Golden will become the next defensive coordinator of the Cincinnati Bengals.
A recent report from Sports Illustrated suggested that Golden was the favorite to land the gig. Then, immediately after Golden's Fighting Irish were bested 34-23 by Ohio State in the National Championship Game on Tuesday night, another report surfaced from NFL insider Ian Rapoport that suggested Golden was a top candidate for the job.
The timing of Rapoport's report wasn't a coincidence, as the Bengals were waiting for Golden's college football season to come to an end before engaging him on talks regarding their coordinator opening. That's why Cincinnati's search seemed to be pretty quiet over the past couple of weeks. They were waiting for their guy to become available.
Bengals to interview Al Golden for DC job this week
Now that the college season is over, things could move quickly between Golden and Cincinnati. Bengals head coach Zac Taylor is expected to interview Golden on Wednesday, and his hiring after that seems to be an inevitability, per The Athletic's Paul Dehner Jr.
As we’ve been saying, Zac Taylor has long held Al Golden as the leading candidate in the DC search.
— Paul Dehner Jr. (@pauldehnerjr) January 21, 2025
Here’s the expected timeline: Golden will spend today and early tomorrow wrapping things up at ND. Then Taylor looks to officially interview him Wednesday.
From there, just what…
Things could potentially change at the 11th hour, but that seems unlikely. At this point, it would be very surprising if Golden wasn't named Cincinnati's new defensive coordinator in the near future. The Bengals also interviewed Las Vegas Raiders defensive coordinator Patrick Graham and New England Patriots defensive coordinator Demarcus Covington for the job.
Bengals fans should already be familiar with Golden. Prior to joining Notre Dame in 2022, he served as the Bengals' linebackers coach from 2020 to 2021. So, he has experience working under head coach Zac Taylor, which is probably a big part of the reason that the team is so interested in him. Before his time in Cincinnati, Golden also previously served as a tight end and linebacker coach with the Detroit Lions.
If Golden's interview with the Bengals goes well, we could get an official announcement regarding his role in the very near future. Stay tuned.