SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman is shuffling his defensive coaching staff by putting former defensive line coach Al Washington in charge of the linebackers and hiring Charlie Partridge to coach defensive linemen.
The moves come less than two weeks after Freeman decided to remain Notre Dame’s coach on a restructured contract.
Washington will reman the defensive run game coordinator and will replace Max Bullough as linebackers coach. Bullough recently left to become the co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at Michigan State, his alma mater, under new coach Pat Fitzgerald.
Washington was Ohio State’s linebackers coach from 2019-21 before joining Freeman’s staff at Notre Dame. He also coached linebackers at Michigan in 2018.
“When the linebackers role came open, we immediately thought of Al,” Freeman said in a statement released Wednesday. “With his previous experience coaching linebackers, he will be a great asset to that room, and taking on this role will continue to enhance his skill set as he ultimately looks to elevate in his career.”
On Thursday, Notre Dame announced the hiring of Partridge, who spent the last two seasons coaching the Indianapolis Colts defensive linemen.
He spent the previous 26 seasons as a position coach, special teams coordinator, co-defensive coordinator and head coach at the college level. His most recent college experience came at Pittsburgh, where he was defensive line coach from 2017-23.
Partridge went 9-27 as Florida Atlantic’s head coach from 2014-16.
“Charlie’s record of developing highly impactful defensive linemen speaks for itself,” Freeman said in a statement. “His experience in both college football and the NFL, as well as his experience working with (Notre Dame defensive coordinator) Chris Ash, will be very beneficial to our program.”