Update on Clemson defensive coordinator Wes Goodwin’s job status for 2025
As of late Wednesday night, a Clemson football spokesman said there were no changes to report to coach Dabo Swinney’s staff for the 2025 season.
But defensive coordinator Wes Goodwin’s days with the Tigers appear to be over, according to multiple reports. And the third-year DC could be leaving to take another job under a familiar face rather than being explicitly fired by Swinney, per reports.
The website TigerNet reported on Wednesday night that Goodwin has “moved on” from Clemson after three seasons as defensive coordinator, citing sources.
Later that night, citing sources, The (Charleston) Post & Courier reported that Goodwin “will no longer be” Clemson’s DC while The Clemson Insider website said Goodwin had been informed by Swinney he “will not return” to the Tigers in 2025.
But a team spokesman told The State late Wednesday there were “no staff changes to report” as of that evening. A person close to a Clemson starting defender told The State that, as of early Thursday morning, the player hadn’t been informed of any staff changes. Goodwin is still listed in the university directory as of Thursday.
A possible cause for that hold-up?
At the same time his job status at Clemson has come into question after a poor 2024 season, Goodwin also has been linked to the defensive coordinator job at Oklahoma, where former star Clemson DC Brent Venables is entering his fourth year as coach.
Goodwin worked under Venables at Clemson for roughly a decade and was one of his top aides near the end of Venables’ Tigers tenure, serving as a senior defensive analyst to Venables from 2018-21 before Venables left to take the OU job.
Now Venables is searching for a new defensive coordinator after Zac Alley (who coached one season with the Sooners) accepted the same job at West Virginia.
TigerNet, The Clemson Insider and a number of Oklahoma news outlets have linked Goodwin, 40, to the OU defensive coordinator job working under his old boss.
Such a lateral move, of course, would put Goodwin in a position to officially leave Clemson on his own terms rather than being fired from his DC job (even if he was told by Swinney he wouldn’t return in 2025, as various reports indicated).
Clemson’s defense performed well in Goodwin’s first two years as defensive coordinator, and he was one of 57 nominees for the Broyles Award (which goes to the nation’s top college football assistant coach) for the 2023 season.
But the Tigers’ defense regressed significantly in Goodwin’s third year overseeing the unit. Clemson (10-4) struggled defensively in a number of games against top competition this year, including a 38-24 loss to Texas in the first round of the CFP.
At the time of the Texas loss, Clemson finished the season ranked No. 76 in total defense, No. 86 in rushing defense and No. 101 in opponent rushing yards per carry out of 133 FBS teams. The 4.71 yards per carry allowed were also the worst by a Tigers defense since 2011 and worst overall since 1975.
Goodwin’s unit was particularly gashed on the ground in big-game losses down the stretch to Louisville and South Carolina and Texas, which had the most points (38), total yards (494) and rushing yards (292) of any Tigers opponent this season.
Wes Goodwin contract details
Goodwin was making $1.4 million in total salary in 2024, according to a copy of his most recent contract obtained by The State. He is set to earn $1.5 million in 2025-26 and $1.6 million in 2026-27 under a three-year deal approved last February.
If Clemson were to fire Goodwin without cause, it would owe him 100% of the total compensation remaining on his contract. That sum ($3.1 million through Jan. 31, 2027) would be reduced by Goodwin’s next salary, if he were to find a new job.
But if Goodwin were to leave Clemson to take another job, he instead would owe Clemson 25% of his remaining total compensation over the contract (about $775,000). That employee buyout, though, can be waived at Clemson’s discretion.
This story was originally published January 2, 2025 at 10:05 AM.
