Will Clemson football make staff changes after Texas loss? Here’s what Dabo said

Defense — specifically run defense — was a big issue for Clemson on Saturday.

In a 38-24 loss to Texas in the first round of the College Football Playoff, the Tigers were gashed for a season-worst 494 total yards and 292 rushing yards. They also allowed a season high in points, 27 first downs and 6.1 yards per carry.

Could those struggles — as well as season-long struggles by the defense in big games this year — prompt staff changes among Clemson’s assistant coaches?

Coach Dabo Swinney was asked that question directly in his postgame news conference after Clemson’s season ended at 10-4 and didn’t explicitly rule it out.

“Oh man, we’re not worried about any of that stuff,” Swinney said Saturday. “We had a great year. We won the (ACC) championship. We’ve gotta improve in all areas. We’ve got an excellent staff. All those guys work really hard and well together, but we’ve gotta improve everywhere if we want to get to the top of the mountain.”

He added later in his press conference: “We’ve got a chance to be a really, really good football team if we can grow and get better and just build on some things that we put in place this year, and that’s my job to make sure we do that.”

Frustration from the fan base surrounding Clemson defensive coordinator Wes Goodwin has been mounting — especially after shortcomings the past three games against South Carolina, SMU and Texas.

On Saturday, Goodwin’s unit allowed 28 first-half points and 289 total yards, including 148 rushing yards.

The Tigers tightened up after halftime, but they still allowed a season-worsts in points, total yards and rushing yards — including a back-breaking, 77-yard touchdown run after Clemson had cut its deficit to 31-24 in the fourth quarter.

While emphasizing he was proud of the second-half adjustment, Swinney said postgame that Clemson got itself in “too big a hole” in the first half and described the 77-yard TD run surrendered to Texas running back Jaydon Blue as a “terrible play.”

Clemson’s defensive struggles against Texas followed a two-game stretch in which the Tigers got gashed on the ground by South Carolina quarterback LaNorris Sellers in a rivalry game loss and allowed 17 fourth-quarter points to SMU in a close ACC championship game win. So, what went wrong on Saturday?

“The first drive, I thought we came out with great energy,” Goodwin said postgame. “Just a couple little alignment issues there that we got cleaned up. The next drive, we missed a tackle for a loss. Just a couple little things here and there that lead to big things. It’s always the pebble in your shoe, not the mountain ahead.”

Added Swinney: “It just comes down to fundamentals.”

Those sort of responses from Swinney have become commonplace this year — especially after losses — and prompted frustration among fans. At various points this season, numerous fans on social media have called for Clemson to move on from Goodwin, a former Clemson analyst with no formal play-calling experience who replaced Brent Venables in 2021 and just finished his third season as DC.

Clemson’s defense had solid results in Goodwin’s first two years but has regressed significantly. The Tigers entered Saturday ranked No. 65 nationally in total defense (364.9 yards per game allowed) and No. 73 in rushing defense (150.5 yards per game allowed). Those rankings will drop further after Saturday’s outcome.

“Those guys fought their asses off all year,” said Goodwin, who generally does not speak with reporters postgame but was available along with Clemson offensive coordinator Garrett Riley per CFP rules. “Really showed a lot of character, fight, grit. Wasn’t perfect at times, but they kept battling all the way up until the end.”

Swinney hasn’t been afraid of making staff changes in recent seasons, as the Tigers have taken a step back from their national championship days.

He’s fired an assistant coach each of the past two seasons, parting ways with offensive coordinator Brandon Streeter after the 2022 season (Streeter had coached just one year) and offensive line coach Thomas Austin after 2023.

Last year, defensive ends coach Lemanski Hall also left Clemson in what the program framed as a “mutual parting of ways” between him and Swinney.

Postgame on Saturday, Swinney declined to directly address the job status of Goodwin or any other assistant coach after the Tigers’ season ended in the first round of the CFP. Instead, he spoke generally about needing to improve.

“We were good enough to get into the playoff, good enough to win the league, but not good enough to win it all,” Swinney said. “So we’ve gotta get better in all areas.”