Wes Goodwin is, by all accounts, a great guy. Unfortunately, being a great guy does not win football games and in today’s landscape of college athletics, Clemson football and head coach Dabo Swinney really had no choice but to move on from the maligned Tigers’ defensive coordinator.
Wes Goodwin, who took the reins of the Clemson defense three years ago after Brent Venables departed to become head coach at Oklahoma, led a unit that steadily declined in production in each of his three seasons at the helm. In 2024, that waning production reached a decades-long low as the Tigers fielded their worst defense statistically since the 1970’s.
That just was not going to cut it in Tiger Town.
The signs had been there for a while. Defensively, Clemson was still among the nation’s elite in Goodwin’s first season in charge. Those were with Venables’ recruits. But those players who started their careers on a seeming path to stardom began to regress with each subsequent season. Look no further than Barrett Carter, an All-American candidate who returned for the 2024 season to boost his draft stock and ended up having the worst season of his collegiate career.
Then, there is the curious case of Andrew Mukuba. The safety was a freshman All-American at Clemson, and after Goodwin assumed the job, Mukuba transferred to Texas and publicly stated the reason was he felt he was lacking development with the Tigers. Of course, in a double whammy, Mukuba helped the Longhorns defeat the Tigers in this season’s college football play-offs.
Ouch.
Then, this past season, came the tackling woes. Clemson ranked well outside the top 50 in rushing defense and much of that was due to poor technique and tackling. And at times it was an ominous blight to anyone watching. Rock bottom came at the hands of Louisville, at home, at night, in Death Valley. The Cardinals ran over, under, around, and through the Tigers’ defense in a game that, for weeks, looked like it would sink Clemson’s ACC championship hopes.
That the Tigers rebounded and were able to win their conference crown was equal part luck. Against SMU in Charlotte the defense was still porous in the second half, but freshman kicker Nolan Houser mitigated what seemed to be certain heartbreak with one of the most legendary plays in Clemson history with a 57-yard game-winning field goal.
And against Texas in the first round of the play-offs, a Longhorns team which had been among the worst rushing teams among major programs all season gashed Clemson for over 200 yards on the ground and at times it seemed as if the Tigers’ front seven were powerless to stop the onslaught.
Perhaps it was wishful thinking that Wes Goodwin could capture lighting in a bottle. Prior to his promotion he had never served in an on-field coaching role and yet was handed the keys to one of college football’s most elite defenses. Inexperience can be a powerful factor despite best laid plans. It is possible that Goodwin was simply over his head.
Clemson parts ways with defensive coordinator Wes Goodwin
Make no mistake, the talent is there for the Tigers. Clemson still recruits at a high level and the star rankings of those players on defense are comparable to anyone Venables recruited. It has been said that coaches cannot go onto the field and make plays for their players and that is true. Still, at some point coaches must bear the brunt of accountability for player development or lack thereof. None of us are behind closed doors with Swinney and his staff, but I suspect the lack of development is ultimately what doomed Wes Goodwin.
As Dabo Swinney pointed out when he released the official statement confirming Wes Goodwin’s departure on Monday morning, Goodwin has been on staff at Clemson for 13 of the past 16 seasons. Swinney thanked him for his contributions to the program and that is absolutely warranted. Again, he is a great guy who cares about his players. But boosters and fans care about the bottom line, and in the world of NIL and the transfer portal, if players feel as if they are not being developed then they will look elsewhere. Re: Andrew Mukuba.
That is something Swinney could not allow to happen; hence he is making a change. So now that Wes Goodwin is no longer the defensive coordinator for Clemson University, the question turns to who will replace him.
It has been speculated that Swinney will target a big-name candidate, much like he did when he hired Garrett Riley to replace Brandon Streeter as offensive coordinator after the 2022 season. And there are a few big names floating around.
The first, and biggest name, in the coaching pond is Tennessee defensive coordinator Tim Banks. Banks was originally linked to Miami to take over their defense, but that seems to have fallen through. It would be a major coup if Swinney could get him to Clemson. Banks has helped turn around the Volunteers’ defense in recent seasons and paired with Swinney and Riley, might be a prime candidate to restore the Tigers to their former fearsome fury.
Other names floated about over the past week, even before the firing of Goodwin, are Illinois defensive coordinator Aaron Henry and Georgia Tech DC Tyler Santucci. If Swinney goes in-house, which would seem unlikely given that the failed Streeter and Wes Goodwin hires came from within, then the most obvious candidate already on staff would be longtime Swinney assistant and Tigers’ cornerbacks coach Mike Reed.
Swinney, in his statement to the media, promised to move quickly and begin the vetting and interview process immediately. He stated he hopes to have a new defensive coordinator in place by the end of January. In the meantime, Clemson fans will wait with bated breath to see who will lead the Tigers’ defense going forward.
While it was certainly time to move on from Wes Goodwin, it is still appropriate that he be given well-wishes and that he finds another coaching home and that his career goes up from here. Goodwin have over a decade to Clemson football and that still cannot be understated.
But now, a new, and hopefully improved, era begins for the Clemson Tigers’ defense.
