OT-ish: Al Washington to Notre Dame as DL coach and "Defensive Run Game Coordinator"
Sources: Notre Dame is hiring Al Washington as the school’s new defensive run game coordinator and defensive line coach, sources told ESPN. Washington has coached at Ohio State, Michigan and Boston College in his career.
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) January 16, 2022
Al Washington, the recently let-go LB coach of Ohio State to replace Mike Alston as Notre Dame's DL coach. Additionally, Freeman has made Washington the "Run Dame Defensive Coordinator."
The new Ohio State DC, Jim Knowles, was expected to take over LB coaching duties. An interesting move overall for both parties...
January 16th, 2022 at 1:51 PM ^
ND is gonna miss BK.
January 16th, 2022 at 2:05 PM ^
Most likely, I know Brian Kelly isn't a well-liked man or coach around these parts, but undeniably, he is a top-10 CFB coach currently. He is Notre Dame's all-time winningest coach, he makes very solid coaching hires, and he knows how to adjust to the changing times of college football.
Beginning of his career, Kelly was adamant on running his own offense, and staying loyal to his guys. When the college game started to pass him by, he made the executive decision to essentially replace his whole coaching staff, hand his offense over to a younger mind, and overall take a step back to a more CEO-like approach to his program.
Although, the fact that almost none of those coaches followed him to LSU and instead opted stay with Freeman at Notre Dame kind of speaks to his personality imo.
January 16th, 2022 at 2:41 PM ^
"around these parts"....serious question, is there somewhere he is well liked?
January 16th, 2022 at 2:48 PM ^
Louisiana for the next 12-24 months
January 16th, 2022 at 3:39 PM ^
And don't forget his fammilee.
January 16th, 2022 at 10:41 PM ^
“Winning fixes everything.” People in South Bend were definitely warm towards him the last 3+ seasons since he made wholesale coaching changes.
I remember talking to a ND fan who insisted that B. Kelly was a completely different person now. He’s more light-hearted and less rage-monster since he took a step back from micro-managing.
January 16th, 2022 at 4:15 PM ^
Nobody followed Nick Saban when he bolted for Baton Rouge. Doesn't seem to effected Nick's career.
January 16th, 2022 at 4:16 PM ^
Maybe that’s why he adapted that accent
January 16th, 2022 at 3:44 PM ^
Agree. Just have a feeling Freeman is going to be their next Faust / Weis.
January 16th, 2022 at 4:40 PM ^
Interesting. I see Kelly leaving as a huge plus for ND. It will be interesting to see who is correct.
January 16th, 2022 at 5:08 PM ^
Rebuilding can be brutal.
January 16th, 2022 at 1:53 PM ^
Nuck FD!!
January 16th, 2022 at 1:54 PM ^
Hopefully for Notre Dame, they never face a run game like Michigan’s 2 months ago.
January 17th, 2022 at 7:48 AM ^
The best part about this hire is that OSU’s first game in 2022 is against…Notre Dame!
January 16th, 2022 at 1:55 PM ^
Unfortunate that things didn't work out with Al Washington since he was a strong recruiter. Overall lack of development in the LB group and Jim Knowles being a former LB coach himself finally put the nail in the coffin for Washington.
Rumor was that Ryan Day did offer for Al Washington to move down and take a "co-DL coach" role alongside Larry Johnson Sr. to ensure a smooth transition for when the latter inevitably retires. Washington though supposedly wasn't interested in essentially a demotion, and opted to part ways instead.
January 16th, 2022 at 1:58 PM ^
Congrats to all the former OSU coaches landing on their feet after we kicked their ass and got them fired
January 16th, 2022 at 5:09 PM ^
Hilarious
January 16th, 2022 at 7:23 PM ^
It is pretty funny how they clean house after a single loss to us. Respect.
January 16th, 2022 at 10:07 PM ^
Wait, I thought they lost because they had the flu?
January 16th, 2022 at 10:27 PM ^
The writing was on the wall after the Oregon game. The whole defense except for LJ was on borrowed time after that shit showed that 2020 wasn’t just a COVID fluke. The loss to UM just confirmed what was already coming after a little bit of “improvement” mid season. If anything, Washington should’ve been packing once he got home from AA with the performance of his unit being that bad. That was beyond pitiful.
January 16th, 2022 at 11:46 PM ^
I still haven't gotten over how badly-coached the OSU front seven looked. The ends kept giving up the edge on outside runs, the linebackers looked slow and lost, and the defensive scheme never seemed to adjust to Michigan running to the weak side all game.
January 17th, 2022 at 11:19 AM ^
For a second I thought you were describing the Oregon game lol.
January 16th, 2022 at 1:59 PM ^
Lol, lmao, rotflmao… breathes, rotflmao
January 16th, 2022 at 2:26 PM ^
JFC. Did ND even watch any of the OSU defense this year?
January 16th, 2022 at 2:34 PM ^
To play Devil's Advocate though, Al Washington could turn out to be a better DL coach than LB coach. Al Washington is a former DT for Boston College, and prior to coming to Michigan, he was primarily a DL coach (i.e. Cincinnati, Boston College). He likely only made the switch to LB out of necessity/personnel available.
For example, Mike Elston was a pretty underwhelming LB coach for ND/Brian Kelly, but ended up being a much better DL coach for them when he made the switch.
January 16th, 2022 at 4:22 PM ^
Actually the last two years. Why any school like ND would hire any of their underachieving coaches - especially after being let go by OSU - is a mystery. We weren't the only ones that shredded that putrid defense
January 16th, 2022 at 8:44 PM ^
Because he is probably still a pretty good pipeline into Ohio.
January 16th, 2022 at 2:28 PM ^
Hope this can be a lose - lose situation for ND and OSU.
January 16th, 2022 at 6:19 PM ^
This is the correct answer.
Fuck Ohio. And as a bonus, fuck ND.
January 16th, 2022 at 2:48 PM ^
My friend is the enemy of my enemies. I really feel that Freeman is going to be a bigger thorn in the ass of Ohio State than Michigan
January 16th, 2022 at 2:53 PM ^
Agreed, there’s no way that Freeman/Notre Dame (and now Washington) don’t at least challenge Ryan Day for Ohio recruiting supremacy.
January 16th, 2022 at 4:00 PM ^
The number of Ohio recruits that consider OSU & ND will be limited. ND has academics standards. ND is more likely to compete with U-M for Ohio recruits.
January 16th, 2022 at 10:20 PM ^
Somewhat, yes. They really hit the Cincinnati catholic schools hard and have stolen some great linemen (Eichenberg being one). There’s a chance Freeman and Washington come into Columbus and get a couple of good ones with the connections they’ve made.
January 16th, 2022 at 2:54 PM ^
I think Michigan won that series of moves.
January 16th, 2022 at 4:05 PM ^
Matteson & Washington from M to OSU, Elston to M, Washington to ND.
January 16th, 2022 at 3:13 PM ^
You are what you practice.
OSU is a finesse team.
Coaches can come and go but as long as Ryan Day and Kevin Wilson (the real HC @ OSU) are in charge, defense will be soft.
It is appropriate for them that they hired a BIG12 coordinator who is used to being the warmup in practice for the important unit, offense.
Go back and watch the piece BIG Network did on OSU and its receivers leading up the The Game. It is their culture now.
January 16th, 2022 at 3:21 PM ^
Doubling down on inexperience - way to go Freeman! Can't wait to see the DC who is going to have to live with all the position coaches already on staff.
January 16th, 2022 at 4:34 PM ^
With turnover in coaches, look for ND players to enter to the portal. ND's former recruiting co-ordinator, Mike Elston, now at M, he should have good insight in to all of them.
January 16th, 2022 at 4:56 PM ^
Notre Dame may struggle for a while
January 16th, 2022 at 9:16 PM ^
He left us just for us to beat him and him to get fired lmaoooo
January 23rd, 2022 at 5:07 PM ^
Holy shit just grab the ball