5 things to know about new Clemson football defensive coordinator Wes Goodwin

In December, a couple of weeks before Clemson defeated Iowa State in the Cheez-It Bowl in Orlando, football coach Dabo Swinney tabbed little-known Wes Goodwin as his new defensive coordinator.

Goodwin replaced Brent Venables, who left Clemson’s program after 10 seasons to take the head coaching position at Oklahoma.

The 37-year-old Goodwin will be filling his first on-field role with Clemson, although he’s been on staff for a total of 11 seasons. He served as a graduate assistant from 2009 to 2011, then as a defensive analyst from 2012 to 2014 before three seasons as an assistant to Arizona Cardinals coach Bruce Arians. Goodwin rejoined Clemson’s program in 2018 as a senior defensive assistant.

Goodwin is a Mississippi State alumnus, having earned his undergraduate degree in 2007 and his master’s degree in 2009.

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Wes Goodwin, Woody McCorvey share a bond

Wes Goodwin and Woody McCorvey are from the same hometown – Grove Hill, Alabama (pop. 1,818). Goodwin and McCorvey, who is in his 45th season as a college football coach or administrator, serves as Clemson coach Dabo Swinney’s chief of football administration.

“It has all worked out really good for him,” Grove Hill mayor Ross Wood said of Goodwin. “We’re proud of what he’s done and what he’s going to do.”

Goodwin savors the small-town lifestyle, atmosphere

From Grove Hill to Clemson, Goodwin prefers the slower-paced lifestyle of small towns as opposed to the traffic and congestion of large cities. To that end, he has spurned offers and overtures from multiple NFL teams in recent years.

“I’m a small-town guy, so this is like paradise to me – the lakes, the mountains, big-time college football,” Goodwin says. “It doesn’t get any better than that for me.”

Goodwin jump-started his career with Mississippi State baseball

Goodwin, who was described by his high school football coach as a “jam-up baseball player,” got his start as a student assistant for legendary baseball coach Ron Polk at Mississippi State.

“He started with Coach Polk, but he wanted to get into football and Ellis Johnson and those guys came to me about bringing him on,” said former Mississippi State coach Sylvester Croom. “He really did a great job for us.

“I kept up with him over the years. Now he gets a chance to be a coordinator. Dabo said years ago that if this ever came about, he was going to make Wes the guy. He made that decision years ago, and he stuck by it. It says a lot about Dabo to recognize talent and not be afraid to promote somebody on his staff that he knows well regardless of what the experts might think.”

Bowl drubbing was ‘learning experience’ for Goodwin

Goodwin was a graduate assistant at Clemson when the Tigers capped the 2011 season by getting manhandled by West Virginia in the Orange Bowl, 70-33.

“I’ve tried to bury that game as far from memory as possible,” Goodwin said.

But not completely.

“Football is like life – the best teaching moments are when things go wrong,” Goodwin said. “There was so much to learn from that game. It was a great learning experience.”

James Skalski is a firm believer in Goodwin

Former Clemson linebacker James Skalski is convinced that Goodwin will be up to the task of replacing Brent Venables.

“He’s been right there for years, chopping wood, being Coach V’s right-hand man,” Skalski said. “I have the most confidence in the world that things are going to keep going the way they’re going.

“I’m excited for someone like Wes to get this opportunity and kind of just show everyone the kind of coach he is and the kind of game he’s going to call.”

This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Wes Goodwin: 5 things to know about the new Clemson football DC