CINCINNATI — Cincinnati Bengals defensive coordinator Al Golden has been in coaching for 30 years.
When Cincinnati opens its season on Sunday at the Cleveland Browns, Golden will call defensive plays in the NFL for the first time.
“I’m excited,” Golden said. “Ready to go. It’s been a collaborative effort on the defensive side. Just trying to narrow our focus right now and put ourselves in positions where we have to make definitive decisions and say, ‘OK, if that bingo board came up, what are we going to call?’ So that’s really where we’re at in terms of the game plan and getting ready to call it.”
Golden was the Bengals linebacker coach in 2020 and ‘21 before going to Notre Dame to become defensive coordinator. He was the Broyles Award winner as college football’s top assistant coach last season after the Fighting Irish ranked second in the Football Bowl Subdivision in scoring defense (14.3 points per game) and ninth in total defense (298.3 yards per game).
Coach Zac Taylor brought Golden back to Cincinnati after firing Lou Anarumo. The Bengals were ranked in the bottom 10 in most defensive categories last season.
Golden said that he defines his defensive philosophy with the “BEST” acronym. It stands for ball disruption, effort, situational masters and tackling.
Those are the core principles that he wants to see from a Bengals defense that ranked 25th in points allowed last season. Golden said that there was a lot that encouraged him from the group in training camp.
“Cohesiveness, communication, playing fast,” Golden said.
Golden saw the defense all together on the practice field for the first time on Monday. Since defensive end Trey Hendrickson held in during the majority of training camp until he received a new contract last week. Defensive tackle BJ Hill and defensive end Myles Murphy missed time with minor injuries, but the defense was never all available at once until this week.
Golden said that he’s continuing to monitor Murphy and DJ Turner this week as they come back from injuries. Turner is still competing to be a starting cornerback with Josh Newton.
“When we’re ready to release it, it’ll be public knowledge,” Golden said. “But right now, we’re working through that. Either way it goes, I’m excited about it. And part of it is seeing just how DJ moves around today, how he feels. Obviously, we’ve had some injuries buffering this game week with Myles and DJ and a couple other guys. So we just have to see how it shakes out.”
While Hendrickson still has only completed three practices this summer and is still getting acclimated to working with a new coordinator and defensive line coach, the Bengals are counting on him to be productive on Sunday.
Golden plans to put Hendrickson in positions where he can play to his strengths. Hendrickson has six sacks in seven games against the Browns since signing with the Bengals in 2021.
“I think it’s players first, always,” Golden said. “And then plays. I think with Trey, if it’s not a full load by Sunday, then we have to do the things that he does well when he’s in there and utilize his strengths. If it’s not going to be the full load, then what are the things that he can do really well?”
