'Wes-lichick' Nickname has Followed Clemson's Goodwin for Years

New Clemson defensive coordinator Wesley Goodwin feels honored to be mentioned in the same breath as legendary NFL coach Bill Belichick.

Bill Belichick is in the conversation as the best football coach in the history of the NFL. 

No head coach has won more Super Bowl championships (6), and the New England Patriots icon currently has one of the top teams in the AFC less than two years after legendary quarterback Tom Brady left for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. 

So Wesley Goodwin, who was officially named Clemson's new defensive coordinator last Tuesday, doesn't take his nickname "Wes-lichick" lightly. 

"Hopefully, maybe, one day I can be mentioned in the same sentence as Bill Belichick," said Goodwin, who met with the media for the first time Saturday. "He's the best of all time. I have so much respect for what he's done over the years, eight Super Bowls, countless other opportunities and accomplishments. it's a fun name to be thrown around. Hopefully one day I'll live up to it."

Goodwin earned the moniker because of his defensive mind and ability to analyze the opponent, something Belichick has been doing in the NFL for decades. But the origin of "Wes-lichick" dates back before he arrived at Clemson in 2009. 

Goodwin, who worked as an analyst and assisted former defensive coordinator Brent Venables, started out at Mississippi State as a student manager on legendary coach Ron Polk's baseball team. It didn't take long before Goodwin was recommended to the football staff, where Woody McCorvey, Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney's right-hand man, and former Clemson and South Carolina assistant Ellis Johnson worked. 

Ryan Hollern, who's now the chief-of-staff for the New York Giants, was also on that staff and started calling Goodwin "Wes-lichick" around the office. 

"I thought, 'Hey that's pretty cool,'" Goodwin said. 

While Goodwin says he's never been "clinically diagnosed" with a photographic memory, Swinney said Goodwin can see a play on film one time and then diagram what all 22 players are doing. 

But even Clemson's head coach wants to pump the breaks on "Wes-lichick" until at least the Dec. 29 Cheez-It Bowl against Iowa State.

“They’ve been calling him that for a long time around here," Swinney said. "Probably ought to coach a game or two before we get that public, but he’s going to be a great one.”

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