UND Staff

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