One of Alabama’s greatest high school coaches has joined Lane Kiffin’s coaching staff at Ole Miss.
Doug Goodwin leaves the Auburn University staff where he had served as the Tiger’s Director of High School Relations and NFL Liaison in addition to overseeing the team’s walk-on program. Goodwin had been on Gus Malzahn’s staff since 2014.
Goodwin had made a mark for himself at several AHSAA schools during his coaching career.
Before jumping into the college ranks, Goodwin spent 29 seasons on the prep sidelines as a head coach in Alabama. His teams at Marion County, Lineville, Demopolis, Russellville and Homewood made 22 postseason appearances, including a stretch of 18 consecutive playoff births from 1993 to 2010. The 2015 AHSAA Hall of Fame inductee is the first coach in Alabama high school history to lead three different programs to a state title game.
His 2004 Demopolis team set a state scoring record by accumulating a whopping 761 points with his son Devin at quarterback. The Tigers went 15-0 and won the 4A State Championship with a 35-21 victory over Deshler.
The Sylacauga native is a member of the the AHSAA Hall of Fame.
At Ole Miss, Goodwin will be responsible for breaking down opposition and helping the special teams coordinator with game planning. Goodwin said that he is excited to be back doing football in comparison to an administrative role he had at Auburn.
“Once you get into the larger ranks of high schools, football is football,” Goodwin said. “The players are very similar. College players respond to the same things that high school players respond to. It’s all about people and relationships. The players are bigger and faster and stronger, but they are still people, and there is a lot of similarities between the two. A lot more than people would realize.”
Goodwin is excited about his move to Oxford, looking forward to the prospect of new things to come.
“I think it’s a great place,” Goodwin said. “From what I’ve seen, it’s a really pretty place. Really quaint college town. I think they’ve got everything you’d want to do. I’m looking forward to it. I’m looking forward to being in a new place, meeting new people, and doing new things. I think that’s always exciting.”