SOUTH BEND —Notre Dame football is losing highly regarded assistant coach Mike Mickens to the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens, a source confirmed Sunday evening.
Mickens, 38, will serve in the same role he had with the Irish, according to CBS Sports: defensive pass game coordinator and defensive backs coach.
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Notre Dame led the nation in defensive pass efficiency in both 2023 and 2024 before dropping back to ninth in 2025. The Irish had 56 interceptions over the past three years while allowing just 36 touchdown passes.
Passed over a year ago in Notre Dame’s search for a new defensive coordinator, Mickens had public support from former Irish players and parents, including ESPN analyst Ryan Clark.
Instead, Irish coach Marcus Freeman hired well-traveled assistant Chris Ash to succeed former coordinator Al Golden when the Cincinnati Bengals brought the Broyles Award winner back to run their defense.
After an 0-2 start that included numerous defensive breakdowns, Ash helped the Irish defense spark a 10-game winning streak to end the regular season.
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Mickens, also pursued by Texas in early 2025, is the second defensive assistant to depart Notre Dame’s coaching staff this offseason. Linebackers coach Max Bullough left in December to join Michigan State, his alma mater, as co-defensive coordinator.
Notre Dame has since moved Al Washington to coach linebackers and hired former Indianapolis Colts assistant Charlie Partridge to take over the defensive line.
The Ravens recently hired former Los Angeles Chargers and Michigan defensive coordinator Jesse Minter as head coach after the firing of longtime coach John Harbaugh.
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Minter is the son of former Irish defensive coordinator Rick Minter, who served as a senior defensive analyst for the Chargers the past two seasons.
The Ravens’ highest-paid defensive player is former Notre Dame safety Kyle Hamilton, who played his final two college seasons with Mickens on the Notre Dame coaching staff.
A former Huber Heights (Ohio) Wayne High School teammate of Freeman, Mickens also worked with Freeman for two seasons (2018-19) on Luke Fickell’s coaching staff at Cincinnati.
Hired to oversee cornerbacks in 2020 by former Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly, Mickens quickly developed a reputation for teaching and recruiting excellence.
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Inducted last year to the University of Cincinnati’s sports hall of Fame, Mickens has mentored contemporary NFL defensive backs such as Benjamin Morrison, Xavier Watts, Cam Hart and Thomas Harper.
Watts, a safety, was a back-to-back consensus All-American for the Irish in 2023-24. Now with the Atlanta Falcons, Watts recently was named one of five finalists for NFL rookie defensive player of the year.
Rising junior cornerback Leonard Moore, meanwhile, is coming off unanimous All-America honors for Notre Dame in 2025. Moore was a freshman All-American in 2024 after stepping in for the injured Morrison at midseason.
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Known for helping underclassmen break into the lineup sooner than expected, Mickens also guided safety Tae Johnson to a standout season as a redshirt freshman in 2025. Freshmen Dallas Golden and Mark Zackery IV also handled their assignments well with Golden transitioning to nickelback in less than a week ahead of the Purdue game.
Jesse Minter was a graduate assistant on Cincinnati’s coaching staff during Mickens’ final two seasons (2007-08) as a player with the Bearcats two decades ago. The two crossed paths again early in Mickens’ coaching career at Indiana State, where Mickens was a defensive assistant in 2012 and Jesse Minter was defensive coordinator.
Mickens also had previous stints at Idaho (2013) and Bowling Green (2014-17). This will be his first NFL coaching job after the Dallas Cowboys drafted him in the seventh round in 2009.
Mickens joins former Notre Dame assistants Golden, Deland McCullough (2025), Chris O’Leary (2024) and Brian Mason (2023) as NFL departures in recent years.
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Mike Berardino covers Notre Dame football for the South Bend Tribune and NDInsider.com. Follow him on social media @MikeBerardino.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Notre Dame football loses DB coach Mike Mickens to the NFL
