Clemson promotes Brandon Streeter, Wes Goodwin as Dabo Swinney stays within to fill coordinator vacancies

Swinney elevated two assistants from the 2021 staff to full-time coordinator positions on Tuesday

Clemson announced the much-awaited news regarding the future of Dabo Swinney's coaching staff, naming the replacements for Tony Elliott and Brent Venables after both coaches parlayed their success as coordinators into head-coaching jobs at Virginia and Oklahoma, respectively. On Tuesday, Clemson announced that Brandon Streeter will be promoted to the offensive coordinator role, while Wes Goodwin elevates into the defensive coordinator position. 

This isn't the first time Swinney has had to replace assistants because of a promotion to the head-coaching ranks, and to answer the challenge, the two-time national championship-winning coach has once again elected to promote from within on the 2021 staff. 

To replace Elliott as offensive coordinator after his hire by Virginia, elected to promote his quarterbacks coach. Streeter, a former Clemson quarterback himself who first joined Swinney's staff in 2015, will continue to work with the quarterbacks while Kyle Richardson joins the on-field staff as pass game coordinator and coach of the tight ends. 

When Chad Morris left to become the head coach at SMU, he was replaced by Jeff Scott and Tony Elliott as co-coordinators. When Scott left to become the head coach at USF, Elliott took over the sole coordinator duties and the other responsibilities were shifted. Streeter's time as quarterbacks coach, which has included both national championships of the Swinney era, made him an obvious candidate. 

The defensive coordinator role had a little less precedent since Venables had held that role for Clemson since the start of the 2012 season. But Swinney again decided to lean on his current staff to fill the vacancy. 

Goodwin has been promoted from senior defensive assistant to defensive coordinator and linebacker's coach while Mickey Conn has been named co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach. Goodwin was a defensive analyst from 2012-14 on Venables' first defensive staff, then returned to Clemson as a defensive assistant from 2018-21. In between, he was an assistant to Bruce Arians on the defensive staff for the Arizona Cardinals, a stint that included an NFC West championship in 2015. 

The staff shuffle also includes Mike Reed picking up the special teams coordinator role held by Conn in 2021 and defensive tackles coach Todd Bates adding the title of assistant to the head coach. 

"I'm just really, really excited about the people that we have in place," Swinney said. "I've always taken a lot of pride in developing our players and developing our team, but I also take a lot of pride in developing our staff." 

Swinney's pride and confidence in the coaching family he leads allows for continuity of message and continuity of process. It stands in contrast to the way many coaches at top programs often turn to the open market to lure in the top minds in the sport, and it's possible the differences in the approach contribute to Clemson's success. 

When Morris first left to be a head coach after the 2014 season, Swinney indicated that what the Tigers had been doing was not the Chad Morris offense but the "Clemson offense," and he expected the group to remain successful in his absence. A similar mantra has followed in the hiring practices since, and it's expected that the championship standard will be upheld, even in the absence of two long-time and highly successful coordinators.