Goodwin Patiently Waited, Turned Down NFL Jobs for Clemson Opportunity

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney says "it's a miracle" that Wesley Goodwin stuck around Clemson, but the new defensive coordinator put down roots in Tiger Town.

Ken Ruinard / staff / USA TODAY NETWORK

Wesley Goodwin's rise from defensive analyst to defensive coordinator caught many folks outside of the Clemson program by surprise. 

To some inside the Tigers' building, an even bigger shocker might be that Brent Venables' replacement stuck around as long as he did. While Goodwin's lived in relative obscurity around Tiger Town as an off-the-field staff member who's helped Venables build a consistently top-notch defense, he's had plenty of opportunities to leave. 

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said Goodwin, who started as a graduate assistant in 2009, left to join Bruce Arians and the Arizona Cardinals for three years but returned to the Tigers in 2018 when Arians had a brief retirement. 

"Otherwise, he'd still be in the NFL," Swinney said. "It's a miracle I've still got him."

Last week, Goodwin confirmed what Swinney had previously said: Goodwin turned down opportunities to go back to the NFL. 

"I'm a bloom where I'm planted guy," Goodwin said. "I'm in no rush to leave a place like Clemson. The people here are unbelievable. It's more about the people than the job to me. I love this place. 

"I love Coach Swinney and I love the people in this building. I have great respect for everybody, great respect for the university. We set our roots here and we plan to be here for the long haul and whatever comes, comes."

Everyone in the business of football is different and has various goals, but clearly, Goodwin, his wife and children has been fine with the patient route. When Venables left to become the head coach, Goodwin, who turns 37 next week, was ready to step into the role he waited on for nearly a decade.

"I'm a small-town guy so this is like paradise to me," said Goodwin, a native of Grove Hill, Ala. "The lakes, the mountains, big-time college football, it doesn't get any better than that for me." 

Goodwin gets his first shot at calling the defensive plays and managing a game on Dec. 29 against Iowa State in the Cheez-It Bowl, and he knows he's an underdog to succeed, something he's fine being, even though a different career arc could potentially have him being a known commodity by now. 

"This is for sure a dream job, but this program, from Coach Swinney on down, has been built by guys with chips on their shoulders that may have been overlooked," Goodwin said. "Someone's had to take a risk on them...a lot of guys with a lot to prove." 

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