How baseball helped shape Clemson defensive coordinator Wes Goodwin’s football career
Football has always been Wes Goodwin’s passion, but another sport was the entry point.
Even though the Grove Hill, Alabama native has always wanted to be a football coach, he took an opening as a baseball manager at Mississippi State, working for then-Bulldogs head coach Ron Polk. He then parlayed that into a student assistant and graduate assistant role for the Bulldogs’ football team before graduating with his master’s degree in 2009.
“I think it teaches you to appreciate everybody’s role in the building, whether you’re the head coach, you’re the janitor, the equipment manager, the trainer,” Goodwin said about his position as a baseball manager. “Everyone’s role in the organization is very important and everyone wants to be appreciated. Those types of roles, they don’t get all the publicity that I’m getting now, but they’re just as valuable.”
Eleven years later, Goodwin is Clemson’s defensive coordinator, earning the job just a few weeks shy of his 37th birthday.
In some ways, Polk is surprised, while in others, he’s not. The bigger shock came over 10 years ago when Goodwin walked into Polk’s office and told him he was switching from baseball to football.
“I said, ‘Really? You want to be a what?’ I mean, he doesn’t look like a football (coach),” Polk said of Goodwin’s not-so-tall stature. “In fact, he may have played in Grove Hills, but I’m not sure what position. I said, ‘Well, we’d hate to lose you.’ ”
Being a student manager is far from a glamorous gig, but Goodwin did it well. If there was ever laundry that needed to be done, equipment passed out or put away, Polk knew he could count on Goodwin to do it.
“He’s the type of guy that I knew he would be conscientious,” said Polk, who is still in Starkville and serves as a special assistant to the athletic director. “The kids loved him. He always had a smile on his face. I knew he was bright. His grade-point average was high, his test scores were great.”
Polk kept three student managers in the Bulldogs’ program, with each generally working for four years. Goodwin, however, only did two years before jumping at an opportunity to work under then-Bulldogs head football coach Sylvester Croom. Ellis Johnson was the defensive coordinator and Woody McCorvey was the offensive coordinator at the time.
“I truly immersed myself in trying to learn big picture, learn schemes, learn techniques and fundamentals,” said Goodwin, who describes himself as a football junkie.
Upon meeting, Goodwin and McCorvey had an instant connection and common ground with being from the same hometown. McCorvey left Mississippi State in 2008 after Croom resigned, but the impression Goodwin left on McCorvey remained.
As a result, when McCorvey ended up at Clemson a year later, he made sure Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney brought Goodwin in as well.
Goodwin worked under then-Tigers defensive coordinator Kevin Steele (2009-11) as a graduate assistant, then spent three more years as a defensive analyst under Brent Venables after Steele was fired.
Goodwin used that experience to get in with the Arizona Cardinals and work closely with Bruce Arians as the then-head coach’s assistant. From Arians he learned, “Don’t try to be anybody else, just be myself.”
“BA’s one of the best coaches I’ve ever been around,” Goodwin said. “Just an unbelievable guy, very genuine, down to earth, very liked and respected by the players in that locker room. ... When he would always come in the building, he spoke to everyone, made everyone feel welcome. Genuine, genuinely cared about everybody.”
In his time with Arizona, the Cardinals went 28-19-1, which included a 2015 season where the team reached the NFC Championship.
Polk, who has a home in Phoenix, would visit Goodwin from time to time during his stint with the Cardinals. The day before Arians retired, Polk attended the Cardinals’ game Dec. 31, 2018 in Seattle. He sat with Goodwin’s wife and young child as the Cardinals won 26-24.
Once Arians retired, Goodwin came back to Clemson. Swinney, for one, was thankful for that.
“Woody had told me that Dabo loved (Goodwin),” Polk said. “He told Woody one day, ‘I think if I lose my defensive coordinator, Wes is going to have a chance to be the guy.’ I thought that Woody said, ‘Well, he’s going to be, potentially, the defensive coordinator at Clemson. An amazing story, isn’t it?’ ”
That amazing story came true on Dec. 5 when Venables left to become Oklahoma’s head coach and Swinney was able to officially make Goodwin Clemson’s defensive coordinator about 10 days later.
Goodwin’s rise into the coaching ranks has been one of opportunity, no matter how big or small. He didn’t need to be in the spotlight, but had a plan and used every experience he had to his benefit. The payoff is now basking in what he calls a dream job as Clemson’s defensive coordinator.
“I tell a lot of youngsters now when you get a break, you’ve got to take advantage of it,” Polk said. “I think Wesley’s a good example.”
This story was originally published December 22, 2021 at 5:00 AM with the headline "How baseball helped shape Clemson defensive coordinator Wes Goodwin’s football career."
