There's an under-the-radar defensive coordinator option for the Tennessee Vols that no one is mentioning
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There’s not a lot of intel flying around about the Tennessee Vols‘ search for a new defensive coordinator.
And that’s by design.
Vols head coach Josh Heupel likes to keep things close to the vest, which is why there’s not a lot of legitimate information about the search out there right now.
As a result, there’s been a bunch of names that have been tossed out there — such as Washington Huskies defensive coordinator Ryan Walters and Penn State Nittany Lions defensive coordinator Jim Knowles — but no one is quite sure where Heupel is in this search.
An under-the-radar defensive coordinator option for Tennessee that no one is mentioning
One under-the-radar name that could be of interest to Tennessee is former Clemson Tigers defensive coordinator Wes Goodwin, who is currently the assistant linebackers/outside linebackers coach at Oklahoma.
Goodwin, a former student assistant at Mississippi State, took over as Clemson’s defensive coordinator in 2022 when Brent Venables left to become the head coach at Oklahoma.
The former Broyles Award finalist’s first couple of seasons at Clemson were solid, but things started going south in 2024. As a result, Clemson fired Goodwin, who will turn 41 later this month, after the 2024 season — despite the fact the Tigers made the College Football Playoff.
I’m not endorsing Goodwin as a candidate for Tennessee — hiring a defensive coordinator that was fired by an ACC program less than a year ago probably wouldn’t go over well with the fan base.
But Goodwin’s connection to Venables, a coach Heupel knows well, makes him someone Tennessee could at least speak with.
I also believe Goodwin is a better coach than his results at Clemson suggest. Goodwin was only 36 when he got that job — experience matters in coaching. There’s also the fact that Clemson, in general, has been trending in the wrong direction over the last few years, due in part to head coach Dabo Swinney’s resistance to using the portal to upgrade the roster.
Goodwin is well thought of in coaching circles, with former NFL head coach Bruce Arians once calling the Alabama native one of the brightest people he’s ever been around (Goodwin spent three seasons in the NFL with the Arizona Cardinals from 2015 to 2017).
“I’m sure a lot of people might wonder who he is, but he’s one of the brightest people I’ve been around in coaching,” said Arians to ESPN in 2021. “He’s ready to go, man. He’s going to be aggressive, and people who don’t already know are going to know soon enough what kind of football coach he is.”
“He used to sit there and had a book and would draw every blitz run in the NFL that week, and he would compile all these blitzes and could formationally change it,” added Arians. “He knew the adjustments to each blitz and added so much to our game plans. I think some of the guys on our staff were shocked how much he added to our game plans.”
Again, I’m not saying Goodwin is the answer for the Vols — I have absolutely no clue how he would fare if he were to land the job — but he’s a name that might be worth keeping an eye on in Tennessee’s search for a new defensive coordinator.
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This story was originally published by A to Z Sports on Dec 10, 2025, where it first appeared in the Nashville section. Add A to Z Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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