Notre Dame's Al Washington talks approach to head coaching interview, praises Marcus Freeman

Perhaps, daughter knows best.

At least, Notre Dame defensive run game coordinator Al Washington is taking the positives from his extended interview process earlier this offseason for the head coaching post at his alma mater, Boston College, and also keeping the good graces of 6-year-old daughter, Audrey.

Washington excelled through the process with Eagles officials, who spoke with him via Zoom, in person and eventually made him one of the select finalists to be asked to come to Chestnut Hill for final interviews.

Boston College ultimately went with former Penn State and Houston Texans head coach Bill O'Brien for the post. 

"To be honest, it was so fast; things happened fast," said Washington, a defensive lineman for the Eagles in the early 2000s. "And I can tell you, it was a great experience. It was great to think about the big picture, and it was great to be connected with my old school. 

"And obviously, the way I looked at it, I'm in a no-lose situation. My family's happy here, and so it wasn't something where you go for broke. But the reality is, yeah, I mean that would've been a great opportunity, too. But my daughter wasn't ... she was happy I didn't get it. So hey, it's funny, when we found out, she said, 'Good.' I said, "Okay."

"It was great. And yeah, I want to be great where I am. I want to continue to work on being a better coach, but if the stars align again, I'd be better for it."

Entering his third season on Marcus Freeman's Fighting Irish staff, Washington is drawing from past experiences and also seeking to maximize his time as understudy to the first-time head coach Freeman, 19-8 through his first two full seasons atop Notre Dame.

"I think personally I felt excited about the opportunity based on my experiences later in my career, and chiefly right here with Marcus Freeman," Washington said. "I think you feel good when you are around good examples of how to lead a team, and I've been fortunate in my career, Coach Freeman is the most recent one, and so that was great. 

"I think seeing the big picture, you know what I mean, thinking about so much as opposed to my unit, and I think that was great. I think it was a great experience, and I love the school based on my playing there ,and it was awesome to go through, and I wish them well."

Recounting his preparation for the process with Boston College, Washington remembers seeking to take an element from each of his coaching stops -- five previous years as an assistant on both sides of the ball at his alma mater, his first time working with Freeman at Cincinnati in 2017 and stints with archrivals Michigan and Ohio State -- to formulate the foundational elements of his vision to become a head coach.

"We prepare every year. In preparing for that, I reflected on every stop I've had," said Washington, approached in January by Tennessee about its defensive coordinator post before he accepted the role at Notre Dame. "And so that's the mindset. It's like now, yeah, you organize some things, we got great resources here and things like that, but who you are as a coach is from largely due to the people you've been around. 

"I've been fortunate to be around some really good ones, and Marcus being one of them. So that's a lot of it that went into my culture, my philosophy, the things that would be important to me. So there were some things that, some late nights organizing and preparing, but it was great. It was a phenomenal experience, and I'm happy to be here and keep it moving."