Marcus Freeman: Penn State football letterman has been a ‘tremendous hire’ for Notre Dame

Thursday night’s CFP Semifinal at the Orange Bowl is a historic matchup for college football, with two of the sport’s most storied programs set to face off with an opportunity to reach the National Championship on the line. But the game is also steeped with rich history for Penn State football, as the Nittany Lions will have to defeat one of the program’s favorite sons in order to keep its season alive.

Leading the Notre Dame defense is Penn State football letterman, former captain, and one-time assistant coach Al Golden. Once viewed by many as the Nittany Lions head coach in waiting following Joe Paterno, Golden has helped make the Fighting Irish one of the top defensive units in the country. Notre Dame comes into the Orange Bowl as a top-five team in the red zone, on third and fourth down, against the pass, and in points allowed this season.

“He’s been a tremendous hire for our program, not just our defense,” Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman said of Golden on Saturday morning. “He is a tireless worker. He’s got experience. He’s intelligent. He finds ways to motivate his players and to get them to play at a high level.

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“I know we’re talking about him, but there are a lot of guys on the staff that do those same things. But he’s been huge. The thing I love about him is that he’s able to work together well with his staff and they produce a great output. He’s collaborative. I don’t even have enough time to continue to give him compliments, but he’s been great for the staff.”

© Howard Smith-Imagn Images

Golden joined the Fighting Irish sideline in 2022 after six years in the NFL with the Detroit Lions and Cincinnati Bengals. Spending 10 of his 31 seasons in the profession as a head coach, Golden won the ACC Coastal Division in his second season at Miami and was inducted into the Temple Athletics Hall of Fame in 2020.

Arriving in Happy Valley two years after Penn State football won its last National Championship in 1988, Golden was a two-year starter at tight end and captain of the 1992 Fiesta Bowl-winning squad. Now tasked with shutting down the Nittany Lions offense that he once helped power, Golden is now looking to add another milestone to his lengthy career at the expense of his alma mater.

Penn State football and Notre Dame will kick off from Hard Rock Stadium on Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. ET.

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