Let’s take a look at some of the funniest, most honest, and most over-the-top social media fan reactions to the firing of Wes Goodwin.
Just days after Christmas, many Clemson football fans got an extra gift when head coach Dabo Swinney decided to move on from defensive coordinator Wes Goodwin, a move that was made official on Monday after almost a week of rumors.
For many Clemson fans, Goodwin was the wrong hire to begin with. That’s because he had never had any on-field coaching experience prior to being given the keys to the Tigers’ powerful defense.
At the time Goodwin was hired to be Clemson’s defensive coordinator in 2022, he was serving as a senior defensive assistant for the Tigers, a position that he held since 2018. Prior to that, he was Assistant to the Head Coach for the Arizona Cardinals from 2015-17, a Clemson defensive analyst from 2012-14, and a graduate assistant at Clemson from 2009-11.
That is not the coaching pedigree that most defensive coordinators at major college programs typically bring to the table. Thus, Goodwin was never the most popular hire among the Tiger faithful.
What’s more, he was put in a tough situation given that he had to follow in the footsteps of one of the best defensive coordinators in the sport, Brent Venables, who led the Tigers’ defense from 2012-21 before leaving to take the head coach position at Oklahoma.
With Venables (who won the Broyles Award as the nation’s top assistant coach in 2016) running the defense, Clemson won two National Championships and during that time the Tigers led the nation in sacks (445) and opponent third-down conversion percentage (30.2). Additionally, Venables’ defenses helped the Tigers win five-straight ACC titles from 2015-20.
Thus, Goodwin was never going to be able to fill Venables’ shoes in the minds of many Clemson fans. What’s more, as the program struggled on defense in 2024, he became the target of many Tigers fans’ ire.
Now, he’s no longer with the program and people around the Clemson biosphere seemed to be thrilled with the news. Here are some of the best social media posts from the past week celebrating Swinney’s decision to make a change at defensive coordinator.
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