Reports: Notre Dame defensive line coach Al Washington a finalist for Boston College job
Notre Dame isn’t out of the weeds on coaching staff shuffling just yet. According to reports from John Brice of FootballScoop and Matt Fortuna of The Inside Zone, Fighting Irish defensive line coach Al Washington is a finalist alongside Bill O’Brien for the head coach opening at Boston College.
The BC job came to the market when former head coach Jeff Hafley left to become the defensive coordinator of the Green Bay Packers last week. He said some damning things about the state of college football on the way out, calling it a “general manager” and “fundraising” gig more than anything else in the era of name, image and likeness (NIL).
“I want to coach football,” Halfey, who held a record of 22-26 in four seasons at Boston College, told Adam Breneman of CBS Sports Network. “I want to coach more defense than I did last year.”
Obviously, there is still plenty of coaching involved at the college level despite Halfley’s harsh words. Washington, 39, would love to do it with a head coach title next to his name at his alma mater. The Columbus, Ohio, native played defensive tackle for the Eagles from 2002-05 and was an assistant in Chestnut Hill from 2012-16.
Washington went to Cincinnati in 2017. That’s when he first linked up with Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman, who was the Bearcats’ defensive coordinator from 2017-20. Washington was the linebackers coach at Michigan in 2018 and at Ohio State from 2019-21.
Washington is going into his third year as Notre Dame’s defensive line coach. He also holds the title of defensive run game coordinator. The Irish ranked 28th nationally in run defense in 2023, allowing 119.0 yards per game.
The Irish are returning three of four defensive line starters from last year, and they pulled veteran strong-side defensive end RJ Oben from Duke via the transfer portal to replace Javotae Jean-Baptiste. It’s a cushy situation for Washington in South Bend, but a head coaching position is a head coaching position and an alma mater is an alma mater.
O’Brien, meanwhile, was recently named the offensive coordinator at Ohio State. He held the same title at Alabama from 2021-22 and with the New England Patriots last year. He has not been a head coach since 2020, his last of seven seasons as the man in charge of the Houston Texans. O’Brien, 54, is a Boston native.
