New Defensive Coordinator Al Golden "Fits" At Notre Dame

Almost two decades after his name was seriously linked with Notre Dame, Al Golden was officially introduced as the Irish’s defensive coordinator last month.

“Seeing Al at Notre Dame, to me, is not a surprise at all,” says Joe Montano, the athletic director at Golden’s alma mater, Red Bank Catholic High School.

“The values that Notre Dame has, the spirit, the commitment, that's Al. Al fits there. There's absolutely no doubt in my mind.”

Golden was a serious candidate to join Charlie Weis’ initial coaching staff after Weis’ hiring in December of 2004, but it ended up being Marcus Freeman who plucked Golden from the Cincinnati Bengals to South Bend.

“I'm sitting right now in the Vincent Eck Student Center, which Frank Eck built in his father's name,” Montano says from the New Jersey High School. “I know Notre Dame has the same student center out there in Frank's name.”

Montano watched many Notre Dame games with Eck, another Red Bank Catholic alum, and says the two schools have a lot in common.

“In a lot of ways, the Notre Dame mystique is Red Bank Catholic,” says Montano. “I'm not putting us in that category, that would be crazy, but the mystique and we're basically an Irish Catholic school, so it's kind of similar.”

Golden returned to Red Bank Catholic as an assistant coach after his playing career was over.

“He means a lot to our community,” Montano says. “Al is a wonderful human being. He's just a really good person besides being a very good football coach.

“Al played at Penn State and then he came back and coached for us for a couple years in between getting back into the business after a cup of coffee at the pro level. He would come to my office every day before practice and we would talk a lot about football, about the school, about the community.

“That was the whole thing with Al. It wasn't just about football. It was the school, it was the community, it was the kids. Those things are really important to Al.”

Red Bank Catholic has seen a few alums reach the game’s highest levels, including former Notre Dame All-American Quenton Nelson.

Montano, a legendary girls basketball coach himself, has enjoyed watching Golden’s path.

“It was great to see, especially when it's someone so deserving,” he says. “The guy put in the effort and the work. He'd always been known as a great recruiter as an assistant. Then when he got the Temple job and turned that program around, he had opportunity to make his mark as a head coach and did such a great job. To see him standing on the field at the Super Bowl was another one for us.

“He's come back to the school, he's interacted with our coaching staff, with our kids, has been generous to our school in a lot of different ways with his time, with his knowledge and just being Al. There aren't many people you could talk to in this community who wouldn't say they have such a high regard for Al.”

That personality has helped Golden on the recruiting trail during his stints in the college game and Montano understands why.

“He's genuine. Al's genuine. Al's not going outside the box. He's going to tell you exactly the way it is. He's going to be honest. He's going to be passionate. He's not going to con anybody. He learned that from (Joe) Paterno. He learned that from Louis Montanaro, our head coach. He had a couple guys he played under who were real genuine people who were going to tell the truth. Al's very much cut the same way.”