Mike Mickens, a four-year letterman at the University of Cincinnati from 2005-08, the latter two when 11th-year Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly was the head coach of the Bearcats, is expected to be hired as the Fighting Irish cornerbacks coach, per Pete Thamel of YahooSports.
He would replace former two-time consensus Notre Dame All-America Todd Lyght, who had been on Kelly's staff since 2015 before moving last month to California, where his son Logan plays at powerhouse Mater Dei in Santa Ana.
A semifinalist for the 2008 Jim Thorpe Award as the nation’s top defensive back, Mickens earned All-America notice as a junior and senior, finishing with 234 career tackles while setting new school career records in interceptions (14) and return yardage (296, three of them touchdowns).
The 32-year-old Mickens had been thecornerbacks coach the past two years at his alma mater under head coach Luke Fickell while the Bearcats posted back-to-back 11-win seasons and finished No. 24 (2018) and No. 21 (2019) in the Associated Press poll.
It was the first time the Bearcats had consecutive top-25 finishes since Kelly was the coach in 2007 (17th), 2008 (17th) and 2009 (4th).
The 2018 Cincinnati defense ranked among the top 15 nationally in scoring and total defense, while the 2019 edition saw Mickens help cornerback Ahmad Gardner achieve Freshman All-American honors from several outlets.
After playing professionally a couple of seasons before injuries derailed his career, Mickens joined the Cincinnati staff in 2011 as a defensive assistant before moving to Indiana State (2012), Idaho (2013) and then Bowling Green, where he settled in under head coach Dino Babers.
The Falcons prospered with 18 total wins in 2014-15, leading Babers to take the head coaching position at Syracuse.
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