Sources: Notre Dame to hire Al Washington as defensive line coach
As if the Marcus Freeman connection to Ohio State wasn’t enough for Notre Dame’s 2022 season opener, how about some more former Buckeyes? Specifically, recent Buckeyes linebackers coach Al Washington. With Mike Elston having left for Michigan, the Irish suddenly had a vacancy for defensive line coach. According to Pete Thamel of ESPN, the Irish are hiring Washington to fill that vacancy and also become their defensive run 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
Although not nearly as consequential compared to the game in Columbus, senior day at Notre Dame Stadium promises to hold significance for Washington. On that day, the Irish will play Boston College, where he coached for five years. He spent two nonconsecutive seasons as the Eagles’ defensive line coach with three seasons as the running backs coach in between. During his first season with that program, he also was an assistant special teams coach.
It won’t be easy to replace Elston, but we hope Washington has an admirable attempt to do so.
