{"id":81232,"date":"2025-01-20T07:37:45","date_gmt":"2025-01-20T13:37:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/the-type-of-man-he-is-how-al-washington-already-won-before-national-title-kickoff-between-notre-dame-ohio-state\/"},"modified":"2025-01-20T07:37:45","modified_gmt":"2025-01-20T13:37:45","slug":"the-type-of-man-he-is-how-al-washington-already-won-before-national-title-kickoff-between-notre-dame-ohio-state","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/the-type-of-man-he-is-how-al-washington-already-won-before-national-title-kickoff-between-notre-dame-ohio-state\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018The type of man he is\u2019: How Al Washington already won before national title kickoff between Notre Dame, Ohio State"},"content":{"rendered":"

ATLANTA \u2014 Notre Dame defensive line coach Al Washington<\/a><\/strong> remembers the exact hash where it happened. Won\u2019t ever forget it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Far side of the field from where he was standing inside the Woody Hayes Athletic Center. One-on-one pass-rushing drill, \u2018backers vs. blockers. Third day of spring ball, 2021. First day of a journey Ohio State linebacker Mitchell Melton<\/a><\/strong> never knew would have him sleeping under the roof of his position coach\u2019s house for a week.\u00a0<\/p>\n

When Melton crumpled to the turf at the Woody in what Washington called \u201cjust a freak thing,\u201d Washington, Ohio State\u2019s linebackers coach at the time, picked him up and took him in. Literally. Melton lived at Washington\u2019s home for a week in the infant stages of recovering from knee surgery.<\/p>\n

Washington. His wife Melissa. His son Michael Anthony. His daughter Audrey.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Melton.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t think twice about it,\u201d Washington told Blue & Gold. \u201cI love him. He\u2019s like family.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Washington, a Columbus native, loves Ohio State, his national championship game opponent Monday night. Buckeyes are his family. No hyperbole; his father, Al Sr., was an Ohio State linebacker from 1977-80. His wife graduated from OSU, as did his sister and brother-in-law. His mom still lives in Columbus. For so long, everything in his life came up scarlet and silver. It\u2019s who he was, and, to a degree, who he still is.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That changed when he went to Boston College to play defensive tackle from 2002-05.\u00a0<\/p>\n

When you leave home, which Columbus will always be to Washington, you gain a new perspective. It becomes less about where you\u2019re at and more about who\u2019s there with you. Then you take that approach back to your roots and make home more homey than it was before.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That\u2019s what Washington did as OSU\u2019s \u2018backers coach from 2019-21.\u00a0<\/p>\n

There are a lot of upstanding coaches in college football. How many open their doors to a player for seven critical, impressionable days to get him on his feet \u2014 again, literally? Washington makes at least one. And he\u2019d have done it at Ohio State, Boston College, Notre Dame \u2014 anywhere.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It was about Melton and Melton\u2019s livelihood. Not a logo.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cLooking back on it right now in this moment, it was really important that he did that to make it feel like I wasn\u2019t alone in that process,\u201d Melton told Blue & Gold. \u201cI\u2019m really appreciative of that, for sure.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt wasn\u2019t helping Mitch,\u201d Washington added. \u201cIt was being a coach. A mentor. I don\u2019t look at it like helping. He was going through a tough time? Hey, I\u2019m here. It\u2019s what you do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Passion And Energy\u00a0<\/h2>\n

Ohio State let Washington go at the end of the 2021 season. If he had it his way, he\u2019d have been an assistant there for much longer.\u00a0It was the opportunity of a lifetime to do what he loves in the place he was brought up in.<\/p>\n

He moved on quickly when Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman<\/a><\/strong> hired him soon after his dismissal by Buckeyes head coach Ryan Day<\/a><\/strong>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was tough, but it\u2019s the business,\u201d Washington said. \u201cHome is always going to be there. That\u2019s part of the business. I try not to worry about things I can\u2019t control. I\u2019m thankful for that time, but nothing is permanent. I\u2019ve been around long enough to understand that.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Washington previously worked with Day at Boston College from 2012-14 and with Freeman at Cincinnati in 2017. Sure, the Buckeyes didn\u2019t move forward with Washington upon changing regimes to a new defensive coordinator ahead of the 2022 season, but Day wouldn\u2019t have hired Washington as linebackers coach in his first full season as Ohio State\u2019s head coach if he didn\u2019t look back on the BC years fondly.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It was 2013. Day was the Eagles\u2019 offensive coordinator. He brought Washington, an assistant special teams and defensive line coach, to a Dunkin\u2019 Donuts to offer up a peculiar promotion.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI sort of talked him into becoming the running backs coach, and he said, \u2018I don\u2019t know anything about coaching running backs,\u2019\u201d Day said. \u201cI said, \u2018Well, we\u2019re going to sit down and figure it out. The first thing you\u2019ve got to do is take care of the football and run vertical.\u2019 He said, \u2018All right, I can figure that out.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Boston College\u2019s Andre Williams<\/strong> won the Doak Walker Award as the top running back in college football in Washington\u2019s first year as a running backs coach.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt just went to show you that it didn\u2019t really have anything to do with the position; it was his ability to motivate players, his passion for recruiting, his energy,\u201d Day said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Those are the reasons Freeman scooped Washington up quickly off the coaching carousel. He called Washington a \u201ctremendous asset\u201d to the Notre Dame staff.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI know the type of man he is but also the type of coach he is,\u201d Freeman said. \u201cHe is a developer of young people.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Dunk On \u2018Em<\/h2>\n

Washington sent Notre Dame defensive tackle Rylie Mills<\/a><\/strong> a documentary about Shaquille O\u2019Neal before his senior season. Hm? What\u2019s a retired NBA legend got to do with a collegiate football player with professional aspirations not yet realized?\u00a0<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t random. Rather, purposeful.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe big message was, \u2018Hey, Shaq would always try to go around people. And his dad was like, \u2018What the hell are you doing? Just dunk on \u2018em,\u2019\u201d Mills told Blue & Gold. \u201cThat was something he told me. There were clips where I was bull-rushing people 20 yards back. He sent me that clip, and any time I go around someone or try to do a certain move, he\u2019s like, \u2018Hey, dunk on \u2018em.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Mills credits Washington with setting the foundation for the back half of his career. In the first half, he was caught between being a defensive end and a tackle. A little directionless. Washington gave him direction.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He\u2019s done so for dozens of dudes in the last handful of years, Ohio State to Notre Dame. Buckeyes linebacker Cody Simon<\/a><\/strong> said Washington was the first coach who instilled in him the idea and ultimate reality of becoming a Buckeyes team captain.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s one of the best coaches I\u2019ve ever had,\u201d Simon said. \u201cHe changed my mentality about football. I\u2019m so thankful to have been coached by him. I know they appreciate him as much as I did because he\u2019s more than a coach. He\u2019s a great man, husband and father. It goes beyond football for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Notre Dame defensive end Junior Tuihalamka<\/a><\/strong>, it was Washington instilling in him the confidence necessary to make a position change from linebacker to Vyper, Notre Dame\u2019s moniker for the rush end position, in the middle of his freshman season.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That\u2019s not an easy swap as an unseasoned first-year pupil. Washington made it seamless. Tuihalamaka has since emerged into one of Notre Dame\u2019s top pass-rushing playmakers during the Irish\u2019s run to the national championship game.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI had little to no knowledge about edge rushing or anything, but the fact that he had belief in me to be where I\u2019m at right now, it means so much to me,\u201d Tuihalamaka said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

One Percent Better<\/h2>\n

Ohio State linebackers coach James Laurinaitis<\/a><\/strong> only coached with Washington for one season when he was a graduate assistant at Notre Dame in 2022. One season was long enough for his favorite memory with him, one that \u201csinges\u201d his brain, to be not fit for sharing in a publication such as this.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cLeave that to the imagination,\u201d Laurinaitis told Blue & Gold.\u00a0<\/p>\n

What can he say about Washington? A lot.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI love Al,\u201d he said. \u201cHe\u2019s a great guy. Very passionate. Cares a ton about his players. Cares a ton about his players. Would go to bat for them. Cares about them as men.\u201d<\/p>\n

Notre Dame sophomore defensive tackle Armel Mukam<\/a><\/strong> said Washington\u2019s teachings are often things he sees from NFL<\/a><\/strong> players. What Mukam studies on film from Fighting Irish practices mirrors what he takes away from turning on the TV to watch ball on Sundays.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Notre Dame freshman defensive tackle Sean Sevillano<\/a><\/strong> grasps the same sense of functionality from Washington\u2019s guidance.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s very good at walking us through details of what we\u2019re doing and why we\u2019re doing it,\u201d Sevillano said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But as Simon and Laurinaitis said, Washington\u2019s influence goes way beyond ball. Sevillano clings to weekend fishing trips and cookouts in Washington\u2019s backyard. Such gatherings were frequent in Columbus, too. Those moments are so memorable because Washington makes them so. Every endeavor is treated with unmeasurable fervor, be it catching a fish or teaching tackling technique.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Why? He cares. About everything and everyone. Caring is the first word Melton used to describe his old landlord. That, followed by generous and intense. The combination of everything Washington is equates to someone unforgettable.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHe told me this once and it\u2019s always stuck with me \u2014 \u2018Every day, day by day, I want to get better and better,\u2019\u201d Ohio State linebacker C.J. Hicks<\/a><\/strong> said. \u201cNo matter what it is \u2014 football, life, school \u2014 always being one percent better and building off that the next day.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Wise words to live by. Washington is full of them.<\/p>\n

\u201cNothing is guaranteed, man, but I live in the moment,\u201d Washington said. \u201cAnd I know this \u2014 as long as the good Lord allows me to be here, we\u2019re going to grind to maximize and attack every moment we have.\u201d<\/p>\n

The post \u2018The type of man he is\u2019: How Al Washington already won before national title kickoff between Notre Dame, Ohio State<\/a> appeared first on On3<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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