Swinney says bowl MVP Goodrich is an argument against transfer portal

Mario Goodrich celebrates his MVP performance.

by Nikki Hood - Staff Writer - Thu Dec 30 15:28:03 GMT-04:00 2021

ORLANDO – As players for schools all across the country continue to enter the transfer portal in droves, Mario Goodrich is the perfect example of why seeing his career at Clemson through ultimately paid off.

Goodrich sat behind players like AJ Terrell and Trayvon Mullen – who are both now in the NFL – and had his ups and downs with head coach Dabo Swinney but he stayed the course and finished his career at Clemson with a pick-six and a caused fumble in his MVP performance in Clemson’s 20-13 win over Iowa State in the Cheez-It Bowl.

Swinney said Goodrich was like most college freshman when he got to Clemson but he is now ready for anything that life wants to throw at him because he stayed the course during his transition from young kid to man.

“Really proud of Mario [Goodrich]. I was talking to the team about Mario a week or so go about this young man, because he didn't get off to a good start,” Swinney said. “Like a lot of 18-year-olds, a little immature, not quite as focused, a little distracted, in my office a couple times when he didn't need to be in my office. Got my foot in his rear a few times and, you know -- but you don't know what you don't know. And now, here he is. First Team All-Conference. Had his best semester academically in his whole career, 3.46 GPA in the fall. He was voted team captain by his team. Going to the Senior Bowl. That's what is great about coaching, is seeing transformation, seeing young men buy in.

“He'd have probably been in the portal if the portal had been around in his sophomore year. But to be up here in this moment with this guy right now, he knows. This is a winner. He's equipped. He's equipped. Whoever gets Mario, man, this dude right here. He's a grown man, and he gets it and he's equipped because of what he's been through and because he hung in there. I'm just so proud. Nobody deserves it more than this guy. He's been amazing, and, again, to see him voted captain.”

The fact that he stayed and chose to experience adversity and grow through that adversity has better equipped him for life, Swinney said.

“I'm not a big fan of the easy way out. I can just tell you, if it had been around his sophomore year, he would have been in it [transfer portal] ain't no doubt,” Swinney said. “He's a perfect example of -- and not that there's not good, legit reasons from time to time, but he's a perfect example of what happens when you grow through adversity. You know, adversity is good for us and it makes you depend on God. Makes you dig deeper. And the biggest thing in our program, our goals are to graduate our players, to equip them and develop them as men, to have a good experience and win a championship. He's the epitome of all those things. He's equipped. He's developed, and he's transformed. Then learning to be committed to excellence in everything you do, not just football, not just having your identity in football.”

During Swinney’s time at Clemson, he has stood firm on his belief of growing men and not just football players, and Goodrich is a perfect example of that culture.

“Football is so fleeting. If he's playing football at 27, he's an old man. College football should be about developing men,” he said. “That's what I'm passionate about. That's what I've always been passionate about. That's what I'm going to always be passionate about. This is what coaching is all about to me. He's got an unbelievable family, and they have been pushing on their end and pushing on his end. But at the end of the day, you have to grow. Young people need guidance. Young people need accountability. But you have to have to buy into that.”

What began with a rocky start has now ended as an All-American and All-ACC selection, Cheez-It Bowl MVP and team captain. It doesn’t get much better than that.

“He's special, he really is. He went from the bottom of the accountability teams to the top, to being voted by his team as a captain, permanent captain,” Swinney said of Goodrich. “That's all you need to know. To me, there's no greater compliment than to be voted captain by your team, because they know. It's just awesome to see how he's grown and matured. But when you're 22 years old, you have a different perspective on things. You have been through some stuff and you have made it through and it makes you a little more confident. When he has challenges – he will have more challenges along the way, but he is prepared. He is equipped to go deal with them, and he'll push right through.”