Notre Dame football Al Washington joins Marcus Freeman from Ohio State
SOUTH BEND – Aiden Gobaira had only been on Notre Dame’s campus for a few days this January when the early enrollee had a cold bucketful of modern college football reality splashed in his face.
Having already decided to honor his commitment in the early December changeover from Brian Kelly to Marcus Freeman, the four-star defensive lineman from Fairfax, Va., found himself six weeks later saying hello and goodbye to his position coach, Mike Elston, in revolving-door fashion.
“I was definitely shocked,” Gobaira said of Elston’s sudden jump to Michigan, his alma mater, after 12 seasons on the Irish coaching staff. “It came out of the blue for me. Would’ve loved for him to stay, but it’s all right.”
Under Elston’s watch, five Irish defensive linemen were drafted in the past three years alone, including 2019 first-rounder Jerry Tillery and 2020 third-rounder Julian Okwara. With Isaiah Foskey and the Ademilola Twins, Jayson and Justin, opting to return for one more season, another deep and talented group figured to pad those impressive totals.
Gobaira was looking forward to learning from a coach who had made it his trademark to get three sets of defensive linemen ready to roll through for at least a series or two every fall Saturday.
“With coach Elston leaving, it was super hard,” Gobaira said on Feb. 4, when the wound was still fresh. “When coach Kelly left, that was one of my main points: “I’ve got Freeman here and I have Elston here. I’m safe. I’m good.’ “
Until he wasn’t.
Film buffs
In some ways, the timing couldn’t have been worse for a young player like Gobaira.
Notre Dame moved quickly to replace Elston with Al Washington, a known quantity in Midwest coaching circles and most recently the linebackers coach at Ohio State for three seasons.
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Still, there would be plenty of catching up to do for Washington, 37, with his position group, including a player like Gobaira, who he was meeting for the first time.
“I hadn’t talked with him,” Gobaira said. “I wasn’t a part of his recruiting process.”
Fortunately for all concerned parties, Joshua Burnham was.
Burnham, Gobaira’s fellow early enrollee and spring-semester roommate, got to know Washington well as a Buckeyes recruiting target from Traverse City, Mich. The linebacker vouched for the high-energy assistant, even after rejecting his overtures to sign with Notre Dame.
“As soon as coach Washington was selected, I knew that I was in great hands,” Gobaira said. “Josh kept telling me how great of a guy coach Washington was, and then I got to meet with him and I really got to see what kind of guy he was.”
A three-year starter at defensive tackle for Boston College from 2002-05, Washington has a long résumé that includes brief stops at Michigan (2018) and Cincinnati (2017) as well as a five-year run in Chestnut Hill, where he coached running backs for all but his last season at his alma mater.
That year with the Bearcats gave Washington a chance to work alongside Freeman, his future boss, but it also accelerated his understanding of how to make quick connections as a recruiter and mentor at an unfamiliar workplace.
In Gobaira’s case, coach and player bonded over their shared affinity for film study.