For the first time in a long time, Clemson is going through a season with first-year coordinators.
Brandon Streeter is calling the offensive plays while Wes Goodwin is the play caller for the defense, a role he’s serving in for the first time in his coaching career. Both were promoted by head coach Dabo Swinney following the head-coaching departures of Brent Venables (Oklahoma) and Tony Elliott (Virginia).
Five games in, the Tigers are averaging 41 points, 15 more than their scoring average a season ago. Meanwhile, the defense is allowing 21.4 points per game, good for 42nd nationally.
Following the Tigers’ most recent win over NC State over the weekend, Swinney assessed the performance of each through Clemson’s first five games.
“I give them an A,” Swinney said. “We’re 5-0. We haven’t been perfect, but the name of the game is to find a way to win. And we’ve been able to do that. We’ve been able to come up with a crucial stop when we’ve had to have it and the crucial score when we’ve had to have it. That’s ultimately what it’s all about. We are really settling in and growing. It’s not just Wes, Street or (co-defensive coordinator) Mickey (Conn). It’s our whole support staff. We have a lot of moving pieces in our support staff on offense and defense, and those guys are doing a fantastic job week in and week out with game planning. Everybody is really invested, but Street and Wes have done an excellent job.
“Sometimes you make a bad call, and you don’t get hurt with it. Somebody makes you look good. Sometimes you make a perfect call and somebody busts and you look bad. There’s a lot that goes into it that people don’t really necessarily know or see, but those guys have done a great job . And then what I see during the week as far as our structure, our organization and our communication. I really like how we’re practicing. There’s just a lot of positives with those guys.”