It’s been two months to the day since Notre Dame played a football game.

Marcus Freeman’s Fighting Irish program continues to experience some late-cycle coaching change. 

Multiple sources tell FootballScoop that Freeman and Notre Dame are losing veteran defensive assistant Al Washington to the NFL’s Miami Dolphins.

The impending move comes just one week following Mike Mickens’s departure to the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens; Mickens for several years has carried the reputation as arguably the best cornerbacks/secondary coach in college football, developing Ben Morrison, Leonard Moore, Christian Gray and other notable Notre Dame defensive backs.

Just recently elevated to Notre Dame’s linebackers coaching post and also the program’s defensive running game coordinator, Washington is poised for something of a Boston College reunion in South Florida.

A former Boston College player, Washington is set to join a Dolphins franchise now transitioning under new head coach Jeff Hafley — the former Boston College head coach — and Sean Duggan, a former Boston College player who was coached by Washington with the Eagles. Duggan is expected to have a top defensive assistant role in Hafley’s first-year Dolphins regime; Washington is expected coach the Fins linebackers. 

Freeman and Washington first worked together in 2017 at the University of Cincinnati; after Freeman was named Notre Dame’s head coach in December 2021, Washington became one of Freeman’s priority targets to add to the Notre Dame defensive staff. Washington accepted Notre Dame’s offer at a time that he was departing Ryan Day’s Ohio State Buckeyes program and also not long after the University of Tennessee had entered into in-depth discussions with Washington about the Vols’ defensive coordinator post.

Last month, Washington helped Notre Dame sign its highest-rated group of defensive linemen in the Freeman era. The Irish signed five-star edge Rodney Dunham and four-star edge Ebenezer Ewetade, as well as four-star defensive lineman Elijah Golden.

The Irish have yet to hire a replacement for the departed Mickens, a former NFL player who’s getting his first crack at NFL coaching. Several sources told FootballScoop on Thursday that Notre Dame staff members — notably defensive coordinator Chris Ash — were continuing talks with cornerbacks/secondary coaches about replacing Mickens. The believed frontrunner is Oklahoma’s Jay Valai, twice previously an Ash colleague at both Rutgers and Texas, while former USC assistant Doug Belk also is in the mix. 

Sources said while those two are believed the top candidates, in that order, SMU’s Ricky Hunley also is a name to monitor; Hunely, like Ash, is a Drake alum who spent part of his playing career at Drake learning under Ash.

Additionally, sources have told FootballScoop that two different NFL organizations, including the Baltimore Ravens, have checked in on award-winning Notre Dame special teams coordinator Marty Biagi, FootballScoop’s 2024 Coordinator of the Year as voted by his peers. Irish strength and conditioning coach Loren Landow, previously atop the Denver Broncos’ strength and performance system, also could be a target with the Las Vegas Raiders or Arizona Cardinals in the NFL, should either or both of those franchises ultimately hire Klint Kubiak or Vance Joseph — previous Landow colleagues — atop their franchises.Â