The long road for Al Golden: He's back in Miami, trying to bring Notre Dame a CFP title shot

DANIA BEACH, Fla. — Choose your Al Golden storyline for Thursday's Orange Bowl. He'll be coaching against Penn State, his alma mater and the school where he was a captain. He'll be coaching again at Hard Rock Stadium, where Miami fans booed him off the field in his final game leading the Hurricanes.

He insists neither of those details matter.

Deep down, he's probably not telling the whole truth. Golden — the Notre Dame defensive coordinator — will help guide the Fighting Irish (13-1) into the College Football Playoff national semifinals on Thursday night, when they take on the Nittany Lions (13-2). There are distractions, which he won't let become distractions.

“I don’t take anything for granted at my age," Golden said. "I’m very grateful for this opportunity. Just staying focused, just staying humble, just staying in the moment, not worrying about anything. Whether it’s the fact that I went to Penn State or anything on the outside, I'm just concentrating and just being really, really focused on the moment and being the best I can for these players. They deserve that.”

He has been back to the stadium twice since his Miami tenure ended, so this won't be his first look around his old stomping grounds; Golden was on the NFL staffs in Detroit and Cincinnati in recent years when those teams visited the Dolphins, the primary inhabitants of Hard Rock Stadium. But there are reminders that he's returning to comfortable surroundings for this game — texts from his former next-door neighbor, well-wishes from people whose kids played alongside Golden's kids, that sort of thing.

“Al Golden is one of us, he’s a Penn Stater,” Penn State coach James Franklin said. “I’ve known Al for a long time. Been a head coach; been in the NFL. He’s done a great job with their defense. Again, very sound, very aggressive, very disruptive.”

Great job might be an understatement.

Notre Dame has held 12 opponents to 17 points or less, tying Ohio State for the most such games in the nation this year. The Irish are No. 1 nationally in takeaways, No. 2 nationally in points allowed per game, No. 8 nationally in yards allowed per game. And that's on an independent schedule, not one where conference opponents can tend to mimic one another most weeks. Notre Dame doesn't have that luxury.

“Coach Golden, I call him the Godfather, like from the movies," Notre Dame safety Adon Shuler said. "He’s just so motivated and when he says something, things have to move — and that’s just how we play for him.”

Golden came to Miami in December 2010 talking national championship.

By his first game, all the talk was NCAA sanctions.

None of that was his fault. He was only left to clean up as much of the mess as he could. A former booster — who went to federal prison for masterminding a $930 million Ponzi scheme — was found to have been the central character in rampant rule-breaking in and around the Hurricanes' program. All five of Golden’s seasons at Miami, in some way, were affected by that NCAA probe. When he coached his last game, there were still some scholarship reductions in place.

Clemson beat Miami 58-0 on Oct. 24, 2015, the worst loss in Hurricane history. The fans had turned on him. Banner planes were flying over the stadium calling for his firing. The end was inevitable.

Golden went to work early the next day— even now, he's almost always a 7:30 a.m. arriver into the office — starting to prepare for the following week's game against Duke. Athletic director Blake James walked into Golden's office later that Sunday and let him know the news; the university's board of trustees had met, and the decision was made to start paying Golden his $2 million buyout. He was fired, just like that.

That's all behind him now. Golden never had a completely fair shot at Miami because of the sanctions that he unknowingly walked into. He's had two stints in the NFL since, went to the Super Bowl with Cincinnati three seasons ago and then accepted Marcus Freeman's offer to join him at Notre Dame.

“Means everything," Golden said. "I mean, that’s why you do it. To have this opportunity and to navigate what was a challenging road ... it’s hard to get here.”

He has made it look easy. And the Irish are two wins away from a national title, thanks in large part to what Golden has done with the defense.

“He’s been a tremendous hire for our program,” Freeman said. “Not just our defense. He is a tireless worker. He’s got experience. He’s intelligent. He finds a way to motivate his players and to get them to play at a high level. He’s been huge.”

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