Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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24 MAY 2022 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED BY PATRICK ENGEL A l Golden must toe a thin line. Notre Dame head coach Mar- cus Freeman hired him as defen- sive coordinator Feb. 15 and, one day later, cleared the air on the power structure. The defense is Golden's show. Freeman will be involved, but he won't meddle. There was a caveat for whoever took the job, though. The defensive structure Notre Dame used when Freeman was the coordinator had to stay largely in place. Freeman's charge to whomever he hired was enhance, not overhaul. Golden has spent his first couple months as Notre Dame defensive coor- dinator trying to find the right harmony of those two contrasting ideas. Freeman wants him to add to the defense and hired him because he values Golden's perspec- tive from 30 years of coaching. But how much room does Freeman's stipulation to stay within the prior framework leave Golden to make tweaks? More than the order implies, it turns out. Defensive changes aren't all sche- matic. The best defenses have a col- lective mentality and a strong identity. Golden has unlimited leeway in shaping those, and they're already evident when talking to players and coaches. "He's trying to put into our heads we have to be the most fierce, most com- petitive and the most team-working group out there," junior safety Ramon Henderson said. "A lot of communica- tion, telling everybody what you see, what you're going to do. "After that, after the ball is snapped, getting the ball out rather than just downing it. He makes a big point of emphasis on getting the ball out. Com- pared to last year, you're going to see a lot more batted balls, a lot more fum- SPRING OVERVIEW: DEFENSE Al Golden puts his stamp on the Notre Dame defense and gets a first look at his personnel Junior Rylie Mills has moved from defensive tackle to strong-side defensive end and is the favorite to start opposite senior vyper Isaiah Foskey. PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER