Wes Goodwin Press Conference | Clemson Football Defensive Coordinator | 3/27/24

really big nice place today so a guy who's some of the guys that or the younger guys that have stood out on the backing some of his freshman that roll yeah um you know Ricardo's uh flashed at times him and Joe Joe Wilkinson as well you know in high school they were always around the ball and it same same way it's been here since they've been here the ball seems to find them some way somehow um Noah Noah Dixon he's uh gotten better every day just takes his coaching he's a very business-like kid I'm sure you guys have noticed but shows up with the right mindset every day and uh takes his coaching Corrections from the day before and doesn't make them again really pleased there obviously Samy just touched on champ Champs uh had a solid start early early on and uh to to voy tooy as well he's he's got plenty of opportunities um you know to get out there uh in crucial situations show his skill set too about Peter over there at the defensive van how how's he got progressed and where's he at as he gets ready you guys get ready to close it down here a couple days yeah definitely you know he's one that gives you position versatility and if you go back and study our season last year at times we played bigger guys on the edge as well just you know that's always been a fasio of mine just from all the dline guys that I work with with big guys beat beat beat little guys all day every day and uh just having big guys on the edge to set the edge in the Run game you know that's how how we get attacked most of the time because we're so we've been so good inside so attacking the perimeter and stuff but just just um you know every day he's been out there you know he's productive physical you know effic efficient as a pass rusher as well in early downs and Kaden also yeah um you know he been solid too and just uh still still learning and progressing and you know things are Turing up there with him too are you where you want to be as a defense at this point in Spring I mean you never we never where you want to be um but I feel like we're in a really good spot you know I'm I'm confident that we we can put together a good product this year and be really good defensively and stuff and really happy with where we're at from a front seven standpoint and back seven standpoint I feel like there's great chemistry in the Run game you know um fitting the runs um guys knowing where their help is and uh in the P passing game as well has been really good and stuff a lot to iron out obviously before game one but um that's what spring practice and the summer is for how's Wade um progressed there at middle linebacker and calling plays and doing that kind of stuff yeah I mean he's been great obviously you got to look at at him in the bowl game [Music] [Music] guys to learn multiple positions and moving guys in and out you know just all the different chemistry of playing with another guy or play in a different position with another guy at mik or or whatnot um and they're all all handling it you know every day um just getting better more comfortable more confidence um confidence in those repetitions and experience um only get better every day what's one of the most exciting surpris that you weren't necessarily expecting to see uh this spring most exciting thing um I feel like a lot of guys you know um the young guys that that played a lot of of ball for us last year I feel like they've taken the next step so not necessarily that's a surprise but always a good thing um you know uh some guys how how do they handle success as a as a young guy you know um so that that's been really cool and I mean the biggest surprise to me are is there is no surprise I guess I feel like um we've got a lot of guys that are hungry a lot of guys that um you know show up with the right mindset every day get better unselfish guys um and so I I wouldn't say there's really honestly any surprise right now you lost a lot of vocal leaders off this defense from last year like Tyler and Rook who's some of the guys that are stepping up the field that role yeah I mean uh from the back end uh you know RJ mickens always been a been a solid leader Tyler Venable as a coach on the field um then then you got those young guys at corner you know Shelton you hear hear him a lot um wood as for my room probably the most vocal guy as well as Barrett at times um and so um I would say our our leadership's in a good spot from that standpoint a lot of guys that have played thousand plus snaps or so anybody else for Coach you mentioned that cornerback room not sure you've been asked about it obviously it's two young guys that got thrown in the fire last year what have you seen out of them yeah a lot they're still hungry you know they show up uh highly competitive um work extremely hard at their craft I always see them in there studying film stay in post practice and just uh showing up with that dog mentality every day the top of your head what could you name as the biggest defensive Improvement this spring oh biggest Improvement um I feel like we we've uh hammered a lot of our our problem areas from the spring you know I know Red Zone if you look at totality wise we obviously finished down in the Red Zone a lot of factors that go into that so just really harping on situational awareness situational football you know defensive football comes down to obviously limiting points but turnovers last year we did a great job with that led the nation uh with 28 turnovers and five defensive scores and then next I would say um you know big limi in explosive plays did pretty good job with that we gave up probably too many explosive touchdowns per se um you know just off the top of my head thinking of a couple so limiting big plays and and just situational football um has been the most emphasized thing this spring all right thanks coach