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CLEMSON — A spokesperson for Clemson said as of the evening of Jan. 1 there were no staff changes within the football program to report.
However, multiple sources have now confirmed to The Post and Courier that Wes Goodwin will not return as Clemson’s defensive coordinator in 2025.
Goodwin replaced Brent Venables when the latter took the Oklahoma head job three years ago. It was a remarkable promotion for Goodwin, an off-the-field staffer with no experience as a position coach or play caller.
Goodwin appeared to rise to the occasion, because the Tigers’ coordinator and linebackers coach was a nominee for the Broyles Award, which goes to the top assistant in college football, in 2023.
But, in the end, Goodwin’s track record in three years was up and down — and significantly down in two key areas.
Clemson’s defense allowed 23.4 points per game this season, which ranked 53rd in the country. In 2021, the Tigers surrendered just 14.8 per contest, which placed second nationally.
The Tigers’ yards per rush allowed has steadily deteriorated over the last three years, as well. In Venables’ last season, Clemson allowed just 2.8 yards per carry. That number was 3.3 in Goodwin’s first season, then 3.8 in his second.
It ballooned to a whopping 4.7 this season.
Texas ran for 292 yards on the Tigers in the College Football Playoff, taking advantage of Clemson’s well-known struggles holding an edge. Earlier in the season, Louisville was able to run for 215 yards, in Death Valley, in what was nearly the death knell of Clemson’s playoff chances.
Clemson’s rush defense ranked 84th nationally, allowing an average of nearly 161 yards per game, but the Tigers’ pass defense wasn’t elite, either. They finished 58th in that category, surrendering nearly 214 air yards per contest.
Goodwin’s departure means both of Dabo Swinney’s in-house coordinator hires from late 2021 didn’t last. Brandon Streeter, who replaced now-Virginia head coach Tony Elliott, was let go after two seasons and replaced by Garrett Riley.
Riley, who came over from TCU, struggled to get the Tigers’ offense going in Cade Klubnik’s first year as a starter in 2023, but the quarterback and his unit made significant strides in 2024. Klubnik finished the year tied for the national lead with 36 touchdowns passes; he threw just six interceptions.
Swinney needs better from his defense to take advantage of an offense that returns most of its pieces in 2025. Klubnik is back for his senior year, along with potentially four out of five starters on the offensive line, plus a maturing receiving corps that includes rising redshirt junior Antonio Williams and rising sophomores Bryant Wesco Jr. and T.J. Moore.
Clemson has talent returning on the defensive side, too. The D-line has a pair of rising junior stars in T.J. Parker and Peter Woods. The linebacking corps returns leading tackler Wade Woodaz and uber-productive freshman Sammy Brown. There is a young but promising secondary trio in Avieon Terrell, Ashton Hampton, and Khalil Barnes.
There will be a change in who leads them, though.
Goodwin’s contract was extended last February through the 2026 season, paying him a fully guaranteed salary of $1.4 million per year. There is mitigation if Goodwin is let go and finds another job, meaning Clemson would owe him the difference between his new salary and what he was being paid with the Tigers.
If Goodwin is hired elsewhere before he officially departs Clemson, it would trigger the employee buyout, which would have him return 25 percent of his remaining total compensation. That buyout can be waived by the university.
Multiple reports have mentioned Goodwin as a candidate to replace Venables’ outgoing defensive coordinator at Oklahoma, Zac Alley, who left for the same position at West Virginia.
Goodwin was one of Venables’ most trusted off-the-field assistants before his promotion to coordinator, serving as an analyst at Clemson from 2012-14 and senior defensive assistant from 2018-21. Goodwin was the assistant to the head coach of the Arizona Cardinals, supporting Bruce Arians, from 2015-17.
Scott Hamilton contributed to this report.
