Clemson’s defense eager to show Goodwin’s new ‘flavor’

After defense dominated Clemson’s spring game, defensive end K.J. Henry said both units got it done while keeping things vanilla on that side of the ball, which is hardly unique to Clemson this time of year.

“Not a lot,” Henry said when asked what percentage of the playbook the Tigers showed last week in their annual Orange and White game. “Nobody will during their spring game.”

Yet what teams want to do on both sides of the ball isn’t all that much of a secret anyway. For those who’ve had coordinators in place longer than a year, game film from previous seasons can give future opponents an idea of what to expect. But for the first time in a while, Clemson’s defense is starting over.

Kind of.

After a highly successful decade-long stint coordinating one of the nation’s top defenses, Brent Venables (now Oklahoma’s head coach) is out, and Wesley Goodwin is in. Goodwin is keeping some of the same plays and concepts in place that Venables implemented, but he said recently there are also some that Venables didn’t even know about that are being added to the Tigers’ playbook, which have yet to be displayed publicly.

“We’ve definitely got some fun stuff dialed up,” Henry said.

Goodwin isn’t exactly new to this. He spent the last four seasons in an off-field role as Venables’ right-hand man, helping him scheme and game plan for future opponents. But knowing Venables was likely to land a head coaching job sooner rather than later, Goodwin said he purposefully held some of his ideas back in case he became Venables’ successor. 

“I’m protective,” Goodwin said.

Goodwin said he’s also taken some ideas from Clemson’s newest assistant, defensive tackles coach Nick Eason, who will double as the defensive run-game coordinator. It’s led to a collaboration between the old and the new.

“We’ve been other places, and we know ball as well,” Goodwin said. “Not taking a shot at anybody, but Coach Eason has been such a great asset. I’ve learned so much from him. He’s one of the best teachers of fundamental play, and he’s brought some new ideas and some new ways of thinking in some areas and stuff. We’re going to utilize what’s made us successful here as well all those years, but we have to be our own people, do what we feel is best and what we know defensively.”

The Tigers are coming off a season in which they ranked second nationally in points allowed, and they have their entire two-deep along the defensive line back from a unit that finished top 15 in sacks and tackles for loss. Goodwin and his defense are just a few months away from showing everyone else exactly what the new version is going to look like.

“He’s got his own flavor, and we’ve loved it,” Henry said. “Definitely have to study a little bit more, but it’s kept me honest. … I’m excited for it, but we’ll see how those come up in the season.”