The Cincinnati Bengals continued their busy offseason with the introduction of newly-hired defensive coordinator, Al Golden, formerly of Notre Dame.

It didn’t take many by surprise to see former Notre Dame defensive coordinator Al Golden leave for the Cincinnati Bengals last week. Coach Golden spent a couple of seasons as the linebackers coach with the organization before coming to South Bend,

Notre Dame football officially is losing Al Golden to the Bengals. However, the Irish could have an immediate replacement.

Notre Dame defensive coordinator Al Golden is expected to join the Bengals in the same role, sources told ESPN's Pete Thamel on Wednesday. The news comes days after the Fighting Irish lost to Ohio State in the College Football Playoff championship game, the school's first title shot of the century.

Stemming is a pre-snap motion for the defense but slanting and stunting is essentially a post snap motion for the defense. Slanting is taking the defensive line and moving them to a different position after the snap. Often accompanied by a blitz of some kind or at least sending a linebacker or defensive back while dropping a player on the front.

Golden's defense was one of the nation's best and ranked fifth nationally in scoring at a minuscule 15.5 points allowed per game. The veteran unit was the product of Golden's three years in the coordinator role and closed the 2024 season just shy of a national title.

ATLANTA -- Al Golden orchestrated a Notre Dame defense that ranked top 10 nationally across myriad categories and spurred the Fighting Irish's run to Monday night's College Football Playoff Championship.

The Cincinnati Bengals are reportedly looking to hire Notre Dame defensive coordinator Al Golden for the same job.

During his introductory news conference, Golden had the chance to thank the program that welcomed him with open arms

Al Golden said he wanted to leave a place better than when he found it, and he believes he did that at Notre Dame.

The Fighting Irish were suffocating defensively under the direction of Golden and head coach Marcus Freeman, finishing fourth nationally in scoring defense and 11th in total defense during their 14-2 run that ended with a 34-23 loss in the College Football Playoff national title game to Ohio State in the title game.