UND Staff
Mike Mickens
Cornerbacks Coach
Bio
THE MICKENS FILE
- Hometown: Dayton, OH
- College: Cincinnati (2011)
- Wife: Jessica
- Children: Millie
PLAYING CAREER
- 2005-08 Cincinnati (Cornerback)
- 2009 Dallas Cowboys, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Cincinnati Bengals, Calgary Stampeders
COACHING CAREER
- 2011 Cincinnati Defensive Assistant
- 2012 Indiana State Defensive Assistant
- 2013 Idaho Cornerbacks
- 2014-17 Bowling Green Cornerbacks
- 2018-19 Cincinnati Cornerbacks
BOWLS PLAYED
- 2006 International Bowl
- 2007 PapaJohns.com Bowl
- 2008 Orange Bowl
BOWLS COACHED
- 2011 Liberty Bowl
- 2014 Camellia Bowl
- 2015 GoDaddy Bowl
- 2018 Military Bowl
- 2019 Birmingham Bowl
PERSONAL INFORMATION
- Played for Brian Kelly at the University of Cincinnati where he became the school’s career leader in interceptions (14) and interception return yards (296)
- Was a semifinalist for the Thorpe Award in 2008, helping the Bearcats to an Orange Bowl berth
COACHING ACCOMPLISHMENTS
- First season at Notre Dame in 2020, coaching cornerbacks
- Reunited with head coach Brian Kelly, for whom Mickens was a three-time All-BIG EAST selection at Cincinnati
- Comes to Notre Dame following two seasons coaching cornerbacks at his alma mater, where the Bearcats had back-to-back 11-win seasons, won two bowl games and the American Athletic Conference East Division Championship in 2019
- The 2019 UC squad led the AAC in scoring defense for the second-straight season and ranked among the league’s top-three in rushing and total defense
- Mentored Ahmad Gardner to Freshman All-America status and first-team all-conference honors
- The 2018 edition of the Bearcats defense ranked among the top-15 nationally in rushing defense, scoring defense and total defense
- Spent four years as the cornerbacks coach at Bowling Green
- Helped the Falcons to a MAC championship in 2015, as BGSU was the only team in the conference with more interceptions (20) than TD passes allowed (19), contributing to a league-leading plus-12 turnover ratio
- The 2014 seasons saw a pair of freshman corners combine for nine interceptions, including a school freshman record of five by Nick Johnson
- Mickens began his coaching career at Idaho after serving as a defensive assistant at Cincinnati and Indiana State
- Selected by the Dallas Cowboys in the 2009 NFL Draft
- Had stints with Tampa Bay and Cincinnati, as well as the CFL’s Calgary Stampeders, before retiring due to injury
- Career interceptions leader at Cincinnati (14), where he earned All-America honors from the FWAA and Playboy in 2008
- Was a semifinalist for the Thorpe Award in 2008, as well as a first team All-BIG EAST selection
- Dayton, Ohio, native graduated from Cincinnati with a bachelor’s in criminal justice in 2011
DYNAMIC DISCIPLES
CB Ahmad Gardner (Cincinnati)
- Freshman All-American cornerback at Cincinnati in 2019 with three interceptions and eight pass break-ups
CB Alfonso Mack (Bowling Green)
- Had six interceptions and 58 tackles while leading BGSU to a MAC Championship
- Eight tackles and an interception in MAC Championship game victory over Northern Illinois