Al Golden's name is being throw around a lot lately and Dohn has reported that he interviewed with Chancellor Block today so I figured we should take a look into his resume and credentials.
Al Golden, 38, played tight end for Penn State from 1987 to 1991 and played one season in the NFL with the Patriots. Golden first got into coaching as a graduate assistant at Virginia under George Welsh where he worked from 1994 to 1996. Welsh credited him for working with linebackers James Farrior and Jamie Sharper, who were both named to the All-ACC team and drafted in the 1997 NFL Draft.
In 1997 Golden was named the outside linebackers coach in 1997. In 1999, he was promoted to linebackers coach and while he left after the season, in his 3 seasons at BC he coached All-Big East and NFL Draft picks Frank Chamberlin and Eric Storz. Golden spent the 1999 season at his alma mater where he was served as linebackers coach and recruiting coordinator. After only one season at Penn State, Golden was appointed DC at Virginia by Al Groh, becoming the youngest DC in the country.
Golden was the DC at Virginia from 2001 to 2004 and his 3-4 defense improved greatly during that time. In his first season, Golden's defense was 108th in total defense, but by his final season (2004) his defense was 18th in total defense. In the same time, Golden's defense went from 74th in scoring defense (27.6 ppg) to 17th (17.7 ppg). 2004 was certainly the best season for Golden's defenses as the Temple website his entire defense was fabulous and the linebackers he coached were honored.
In 2004, he oversaw a defense that featured the nation's best group of linebackers, according to Athlon, The Sporting News, and ESPN The Magazine. Under his guidance, Ahmad Brooks blossomed into a finalist for the Butkus Award. In 2003, Brooks and Kai Parham earned Freshman All-America honors. Golden was responsible for recruiting Brooks, the USA Today National Defensive Player of the Year--the highest ranked recruit to ever attend UVA. Golden signed the Virginia High School Player of the Year in both 2002 (Brooks) and 2004 (Olu Hall).In 2006, Golden was hired as the head coach at Temple, taking over a team that had gone winless in 2005. Golden's first season was a struggle as they manahed only 1 win to their 11 losses while playing 22 true freshmen (the most in the country) againast the nation's 3rd toughest schedule. Despite taking over a winless team, Golden's first recruiting class was ranked #1 in the MAC by CollegeFootballNews.com and his second recruiting class was ranked #1 in the conference by Scout.com despite having only won a single game the season before. This season, Temple went 4-8 and 4-3 in their last 7 games. This was the first Temple team since 2002 to win 4 games and his defense went from 118th to 49th in the nation.
