Clemson football: Tigers have plenty of things to prove
By John Chancey
This might be where Clemson Nation and the rest of the college football world differ the most. Dabo Swinney probably could have hired most anybody he wanted for the two coordinator positions. He has built Clemson into a high profile program. Clemson pays their assistants very well compared to their peers.
Instead, Coach Swinney decided to promote from within. He elevated Brandon Streeter to offensive coordinator from his post as quarterbacks coach/passing game coordinator. He further surprised us by promoting an analyst that most of Clemson Nation had not even heard of in Wes Goodwin. Not to mention he filled the passing game coordinator job with another analyst, Kyle Richardson.
Once we heard the story behind the scenes, Clemson fans started to become more comfortable with the hires. Streeter has been a Tiger for a long time, and had experience as an offensive coordinator at the FCS level before he ever came on staff at Clemson. Just because we hadn’t heard of Goodwin or Richardson didn’t mean they were nobodies that hadn’t been involved with creating the direction of the program during some of the best years of Tiger football.
When you’ve been a fan through thick and thin, and then someone comes out of nowhere like Coach Swinney and leads your team to the promised land, it’s only natural to trust him.
Perhaps we should take a step back. After all, just because they’ve earned their opportunities doesn’t erase the fact they are all stepping up to something which they have little to no experience.
It’s great that Streeter has experience as an offensive coordinator at Liberty and Richmond, and stepped in for one game for Tony Elliott when he had COVID-19, but most would agree that taking the reins for an FBS program with high expectations is a different beast.
Wes Goodwin might have been the genius behind the scenes, but being the man in charge on the field for the first time ever is a big ask. Even with Mickey Conn at his side, it’s a bit ridiculous to think Goodwin won’t make rookie mistakes. Some of those mistakes might be costly.
I don’t see disasters coming because of the relative lack of experience that Clemson’s 2022 coordinators have compared to some possible candidates they could have hired from outside the program, but I doubt it will all be smooth sailing. I suspect there will be some choppy waters as both Streeter and Goodwin get their sea legs.