Maybe this Wes Goodwin experiment is working out, after all.

When Clemson football coach Dabo Swinney promoted the little-known Goodwin from defensive specialist to defensive coordinator to replace Brent Venables in December 2021, the collective response was “Wes who?”

Such reaction was understandable. Goodwin had toiled in relative obscurity for 10 seasons at Clemson, starting as a graduate assistant before progressing to defensive analyst. He then spent three seasons with the Arizona Cardinals as assistant to coach Bruce Arians before returning to Clemson as senior defensive assistant.

Along the way he built a reputation as a gifted scout of opposing offenses as well as a masterful situational strategist.

“He was real good at analyzing opponents,” said former Mississippi State coach Sylvester Croom, for whom Goodwin worked as a student assistant for four years. “And he had pretty much a photographic memory.”

Still, Swinney was the target of widespread doubt and second guessing when he tabbed Goodwin, who more closely resembles that distant cousin who rules the cornhole boards at the annual family picnic than a defensive coordinator for one of the nation’s top football programs.

Swinney’s decision remained open to debate after Goodwin’s first season, particularly after the Tigers’ defense slipped from eighth to 27th nationally in total defense, from second to 23rd in scoring defense and from second to 56th in red zone defense.

But Goodwin’s defense did an about face in 2023, riding the talents of players such as linebacker Jeremiah Trotter Jr., cornerback Nate Wiggins and linemen Tyler Davis and Ruke Orhorhoro to a season of marked improvement.

Clemson wound up sharing the national lead in defensive touchdowns, ranked second in first down defense and eighth in total defense. Improvement was most evident where Swinney and Goodwin asserted prior to the season it had to be – namely on the back end.

The Tigers improved from 75th to eighth in passing yards allowed and from 46th to fifth in passing efficiency defense. Four different defenders returned interceptions for touchdowns.

It was obvious that Goodwin’s learning curve leveled off considerably in his second season, resulting in a boost to his psyche and an even bigger boost to his paycheck. He was rewarded with a $550,000 raise on Feb 2, pushing his salary to $1.4 million.

So what’s for an encore?

As he prepares for Clemson’s opening day of spring practice on Feb. 28 and his third full season as the Tigers’ defensive coordinator, Goodwin continues to enhance his reputation as the most famous former resident of Grove Hill, Alabama (pop. 1,818).

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He’ll have to replace several longtime starters, but Goodwin’s cupboard is far from bare.

Linebackers Barrett Carter and Wade Woodaz return as does nickel back Khalil Barnes. He also has a youthful but talented defensive front led by Peter Woods and T.J. Parker. Barnes, Woods and Parker all were Freshman All-Americans last season.

It’s probably a good thing that Goodwin is single-minded in his approach.

“I’ve pretty much eliminated all social media, so unless somebody tells me about it I’m pretty oblivious to outside noise,” Goodwin said. “I just focus on the task at hand. People can write whatever they want, say what they want, whatever. I just show up every day with the mindset to get better.”

So far so good.

Scott Keepfer covers Clemson athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email him at skeepfer@gannett.com and follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @ScottKeepfer

This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Clemson football: Wes Goodwin defense justifies Dabo Swinney decision