Al Golden uses last Notre Dame spotlight for hilarious parting shot at Desmond Howard

Desmond Howard was not alone in fading Notre Dame down the stretch. I too picked against the Fighting Irish in every playoff game they played in this season. It just goes to show how incredible of a run it was Marcus Freeman and his staff to even get to the College Football Playoff National Championship Game in Atlanta. Of course, Al Golden kept the receipts of everything Howard said.

Golden may be back in the NFL on Zac Taylor's Cincinnati Bengals staff as their new defensive coordinator, but he still had enough time to throw shade at a banquet on behalf of Notre Dame. he said, And Des, thank you for picking against us six times this year. We won 14 games and he picked against us six times. It's unbelievable." Outside of their four playoff games, I never faded Notre Dame.

To be fair, I think there is some merit to Howard being down on Notre Dame. This team navigated a relatively soft regular-season schedule to 11-1. The Fighting Irish also lost their home opener to Northern Illinois out of the MAC. It threw a wrench in everything when it came to accurately evaluating this incredible team Golden was a massive part of. Howard also makes some questionable picks, too.

Golden's comments on Howard are hilarious, as well as showing a glimpse that coaches do hear it all.

Let's now unpack why Howard felt so compelled to fade Notre Dame so reverently, but was so wrong.

Al Golden trolls Desmond Howard for fading Notre Dame six times

From a Notre Dame perspective, it is always an us vs. them sort of operation. They are a national independent that should play in a Power Four conference. Their lucrative NBC contract and unwillingness to join a conference in football makes them an easy target for hate and shade and all sorts of other things from college football fans and the national media at large. They are easy to hate.

When it comes to Howard, his alma mater of Michigan had a challenging first season under new head coach Sherrone Moore. The Wolverines won its first national title this century two years ago. Howard is every bit the Michigan, and Notre Dame is a traditional rival of the Wolverines. Howard is known for making wild picks on ESPN's College GameDay. He also makes some of the worst playoff brackets...

And I think the big thing we really need to unpack here is how unique of a season it was for Notre Dame. I had the Irish as a borderline playoff lock coming in behind the likes of Georgia, Ohio State, Oregon and Texas who all made it. Notre Dame was in the same cluster in my mind as Penn State, who made it, and Ole Miss, who came up short by one game. This is why you cannot lose to Kentucky...

We entered the season thinking Notre Dame was surely one of the 12 best teams in the country. In the old four-team playoff format, the Irish were an unquestioned top-six program during the previous decade, alongside Alabama, Clemson, Georgia, Ohio State and Michigan, edging out Oklahoma for that last spot in. We thought the world of Notre Dame to start, but the Northern Illinois loss was awful.

While I cannot recall what games Howard specifically faded Notre Dame, I could see him shorting the Irish in all four of their playoff games, their season opener at Texas A&M, and maybe a game vs. a high-end ACC team like Louisville. Picking Army, Navy or USC to beat Notre Dame would have been laughable. Notre Dame was way too talented to be disrespected like that during the regular season.

So to tie a bow on all this, it is abundantly clear that Freeman got better as the season progressed in his third season as the head coach. We also saw Mike Denbrock get better in his first season back as their offensive coordinator. While Golden's defense was strong throughout, Notre Dame was a far more talented team than we gave it credit. However, the coaching that team got was outstanding.

If you ever think that coaching does not matter in college football, go look at 2024-25 Notre Dame.