The Clemson football program has its coordinators set, and both offensive coordinator Brandon Streeter and defensive coordinator Wes Goodwin have about a week of bowl preparations left before they make public debuts in their new roles.
There is some familiarity with Streeter, who's been the Tigers' quarterbacks coach for the past seven years. Goodwin, meanwhile, is a relatively new name to those outside the program.
"I don't think anybody knows what it's going to do to the defense, what the defense is going to look like, what his style is," ACC analyst Roddy Jones said of Goodwin. "We just don't know. ... This is a defense that's going to be loaded next year, so I think to walk into the type of recruits they're going into and be able to say, 'Hey, look, we're the same,' you're going to have to show that on the field."
Those who know Clemson's new defensive leader, who's replacing now-Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables, can't say enough about him and his football intelligence. The Alabama native began his coaching career at Mississippi State, where he was given the nickname "Weslichick," a nod to having a strong mind and intensity for the game that resembles highly successful New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick.
Goodwin is said to have a photographic memory, so much so that he can see something just one time and be able to remember it. When asked about it during his first media appearance on Saturday, Goodwin was bashful in fully conceding to the character trait, saying he hadn't been "clinically diagnosed."
The self-described football junkie doesn't have to talk about it, though. Plenty of others have already done that.
"I just remember my time there and hearing the stories from the defensive guys about how he has this photo memory where he sees something for two seconds and he can draw up the entire play, the entire formation, and know that," former Clemson offensive lineman and current ACC analyst Eric Mac Lain said about Goodwin. "He just lives it, breathes it, dreams it. It's what he does, is football."
Prior to him being named the Tigers' defensive coordinator, Goodwin was a defensive analyst for the program. He took the lead in breaking down everything about Clemson's opponents while absorbing as much as he could from Venables.
"There's so many great examples over the years where it was like we were almost thinking the same thing at the same time," said Goodwin, who's on his second stint with Clemson after being a graduate assistant for the Tigers (2009-11).
Even though his responsibilities have increased significantly, Goodwin won't change who he is nor what the Tigers have always done on defense. He'll just add his own style to it.
"Every day I'm just going to come in and be myself," Goodwin said. "From an intensity standpoint, just being a rah rah guy, that's probably not me, but I'm going to get fired up at times. I am going to be passionate in my own way. I have to come in and be myself and do things how I do them."
With Streeter, many figured he would be Swinney's choice for an offensive coordinator to follow Tony Elliott, now the head coach at Virginia. Still, Clemson has yet to see the former quarterback in that role. He was an OC for six years under Danny Rocco at Liberty University and the University of Richmond before taking the quarterbacks coaching gig with his alma mater seven years ago.
Streeter praised the job Elliott did during his time but is also excited about returning to a familiar spot. While he said Elliott did give him some say in calling plays, Streeter welcomes the opportunity to be the playcaller full time. He described his calling style as being in attack mode, running a tempo offense but also being balanced.
"I know I've stood back there at quarterback and it's not a fun job to stand back there and throw the ball 50 times a game if you don't have a running game," Streeter explained, "so that running game helps in a lot of ways. Then as a coordinator, you've got to put the pieces together — so what's our personnel and let's get the best 11 on the field and take advantage of whatever the defense is giving you. Really attacking mode is the key."
The changing of guards was somewhat of a deja vu moment for Mac Lain, who was a junior when Elliott was hired on as the Tigers' coordinator with the team preparing to play Oklahoma in the Russell Athletic Bowl, which now has the Cheez-It Bowl moniker.
Clemson defeated Oklahoma, 40-7, in that game. Whether or not the Tigers will repeat that rout against another Big 12 Conference school in the Iowa State Cyclones seven years later will be revealed Dec. 29.
For now, Streeter and Goodwin are set on adjusting to their new roles with aspirations of keeping the Tigers at the level of success the program has achieved over the past decade.
"Both of these guys next year are going to have to show that they're pretty good," Jones said, "especially to get recruits to come when you're recruiting against schools with some really proven, really big-name coordinators, which Clemson has."
