On Feb. 7, Notre Dame football officially announced that Brian Jean-Mary and Aaron Henry will be the newest additions to the coaching staff. They will replace Al Washington and Mike Mickens, both of whom took NFL coaching jobs over the last month and left behind some large shoes to fill.
Washington spent four seasons with Notre Dame as the defensive line coach and defensive run game coordinator before being announced as the linebackers coach on Jan. 7. However, on Jan. 30, Washington announced he would be leaving Notre Dame to take a job as the Miami Dolphins’ linebackers coach. Over the course of his time at Notre Dame, Washington coached standouts such as Howard Cross III, Rylie Mills, Joshua Burnham, Boubacar Traore, Jaylen Sneed and Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa.
Mickens was Notre Dame’s defensive backs coach and has departed to take a position with the Baltimore Ravens. In Baltimore, he will be reunited with his former pupil Kyle Hamilton and coach the rest of the defensive backs, while also serving as defensive pass game coordinator. Over the course of his time with the Irish, Mickens coached several elite defensive backs, including Hamilton, Leonard Moore, Christian Gray, Xavier Watts, Cam Hart, Adon Shuler and Tae Johnson.
While Washington and Mickens will surely be missed, their replacements offer much promise. Jean-Mary and Henry both bring years of experience that will help them lead the Irish defense to continued success.
Jean-Mary will serve as the linebackers coach and defensive run game coordinator. He comes from the rival Michigan Wolverines, where he held the same position. He is known not only as a great coach but also as an elite recruiter. Over the course of his 25-year coaching career, Jean-Mary has contributed to seven top-15 recruiting classes. He has spent time at Louisville, South Carolina, North Alabama, Georgia Tech, Texas, South Florida, Tennessee and Michigan. In his most recent two-year stint at Michigan, he coached a unit that was the nation’s 19th-ranked run defense in 2025, allowing just 111.9 yards per game. The defense also ranked 23rd in the country in total offense allowed, giving up 323.3 yards per game. Over the course of his career, he has coached 10 NFL draft picks and brings a wealth of experience to the Irish.
Henry replaces Mickens as defensive backs coach and will take over as co-defensive coordinator after spending the past five seasons with Illinois, the last three of them as their defensive coordinator. 2026 will be the 13th year of his coaching career, during which he has spent time at Arkansas, Rutgers, NC State, Vanderbilt and, most recently, Illinois. In 2025, eight of 11 defensive starters under Henry earned all-Big Ten honors on a unit that held No. 23 Tennessee to a season-low 278 yards in their 2025 Music City Bowl victory. In fact, Henry’s final two seasons at Illinois were the winningest two-season stretch in program history with 19 wins. He has coached several standout players, but one stands out in particular: Devon Witherspoon. Henry’s star pupil was a First Team All-American and the Big Ten Defensive Back of the Year in his final season under Henry before being drafted by the Seattle Seahawks. In Seattle, Witherspoon has shined; in his young career, he is a three-time Pro Bowl selection, a 2025 Second Team All-Pro and, most recently, a Super Bowl champion. Henry’s experience at arguably college football’s highest level in the Big Ten will serve him well at Notre Dame, where he will have the opportunity to coach one of the nation’s best units in 2026.
