Notre Dame football assistant named head coaching candidate before 2024 season

The Notre Dame football program has at least one potential Power 4 head coach on its staff entering the 2024 season.

On Wednesday, On3 reporter Pete Nakos reported that Fighting Irish defensive line coach Al Washington is a head coaching candidate when the carousel occurs this offseason.

“He was runner-up for Boston College head job last year,” a source told Nakos. “He’s worked under Jim Harbaugh , Luke Fickell and Marcus Freeman . He’s got a great pedigree.”

Washington was a finalist at his alma mater in the spring. However, Boston College chose former Penn State and Houston Texas coach Bill O’Brien . The third-year Irish coach, Washington, played on the Eagles D-line from 2002-05. He has never been a head football coach at any level.

“My family is happy here, so it wasn’t something where you go for broke,” Washington told reporters in the spring. “But the reality is, yeah, that would have been a great opportunity too. I want to be great where I am. I want to continue to work on being a better coach, but if the stars align again, I’ll be better for it.”

The 40-year-old Washington should be on the radar of search firms and athletic directors after his outstanding second season in South Bend. He helped develop defensive tackle Howard Cross III into a second-team All-American and Ohio State transfer Javontae Jean-Baptiste into an NFL Draft choice.

Rylie Mills (47 tackles) and Jordan Botelho (32 tackles) had career years. Botelho earned Lineman of the Game recognition in the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl with his 5 tackles and 1 sack against Oregon State. Mills enters the 2024 season as a potential Day 3 NFL Draft pick .

Before joining the Irish in 2022, Washington, a Columbus native, spent three years as the linebackers coach at Ohio State. He was on Harbaugh’s Michigan staff the year before and held the same position. His first year working with Freeman was in 2017 at Cincinnati.

With the Buckeyes, Washington oversaw the development of NFL linebackers Tuf Borland , Baron Browning , Justin Hilliard and Pete Werner . He also mentored consensus All-American and Butkus Award finalist Devin Bush with the Wolverines.

Washington coached several different position groups during his time at Boston College from 2012-16. In 2012, he served as an assistant special teams and defensive line coach. Then, he coached running backs for the next three years. In 2016, he was the program’s defensive line coach.

Washington also spent time at Elon (linebackers coach in 2011), Slippery Rock (defensive line coach from 2009-10), NC State (graduate assistant in 2008) and Rensselaer Poly Tech (defensive line coach in 2007).

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