Hawkeyes getting a dynamic playmaker in Goodson
The Iowa Hawkeyes have landed their running back in the Class of 2019 in dynamic playmaker Tyler Goodson out of Georgia. After Goodson’s commitment, we caught up with his offensive coordinator at North Gwinnett, Stephen Jackson, to talk about the 5-foot-10, 192-pound prospect, the versatility that he has out of the backfield and the challenges it presents to a defense, plus a whole lot more. Read what Jackson had to say right here.
Q: What kind of skill set does Tyler bring to the table for your offense?
JACKSON: He’s a real special player. What he brings to us is the ability to run the ball in between the tackles almost at will. Whatever scheme we run, he understands it and can find his way through there with patience and explosion. Those two things together are what makes him special, in my opinion, is his patience coupled with his explosion. Also, what really makes Tyler so dynamic and different than a lot of other running backs is that he has the ability to catch the ball very well out of the backfield or line up in formation at receiver, so we can package different personnel groups with him on the field and be more dynamic that way too. He’s hard to cover and hard to catch and understands what we’re doing really well.
He’s a very smart football player. In fact, there are times throughout the year where I’ll change what we’re doing a certain way based on the front we’re facing and he’ll say, “Coach, why don’t we do it like this? Because when we played a team before that did that, we did this,” and he’ll remind me of things that I’ve taught him before, so he’s fun to coach.
He always leads by example and is the hardest worker out there because he competes against himself. I’m just really happy for him because he works so hard. He’s got a lot of God given skills, but the things that you don’t see on the field that come from himself and his family are he’s a great leader, a great ambassador for our program and does everything right. You can count on Tyler whenever you need to get something done. If we need a big play in a game, I don’t need to worry about what play it is, I just need to worry that it’s going to him.
Q: During Iowa’s recruitment of Tyler, they have kind of compared him to Akrum Wadley, who graduated this past year. Is there anybody you have compared him to as he came up through your program?
JACKSON: Last year was our first year there, so I can’t compare him to anybody here at North Gwinnett really. I have a kid that I did coach at a different school that’s now at Duke named Brittain Brown, but he’s taller and bigger, so Tyler’s not really like him. That’s the only kid I’ve put in Division I at tailback.
But Tyler has the patience of a Le’Veon Bell. I mean he really does. But he doesn’t run like that every time. He understands when he’s got to go and when he can be a little more patient because the scheme is set up a little differently. He goes out wide really well with aggression and then he runs inside really well with patience, which sometimes that’s a switch from what you think. He’s really good at running wide because he goes. He knows he’s better and faster and he just goes with it. But inside, sometimes you think you need a big plug-in back like a lot of teams have down here, especially in the SEC they have these huge running backs that just blow it through there, and he can do that, but he also understands that if he takes a jab step here or a jump cut there, he doesn’t have to. That’s some natural skill right there. The best thing about Tyler is a lot of times I can just tell him about the play and say, “Hey man, it’s supposed to go here and you’re going to get it from the quarterback like this, but after that do your thing.”
He also catches the ball so well. I don’t watch a lot of other teams as far as comparing him to somebody else, but when the Eagles had Shady McCoy, he caught a lot of balls out of the backfield, and Tyler catches the ball like that. He runs with an elusiveness that sometimes you don’t notice because he’s very smooth. I can’t compare him somebody - I don’t want to get into that too much - but I do know he’s the best one for my money in our whole league and our whole state.
Q: As his recruiting developed, he ended up with quite a few offers, but more in the Big Ten, Big 12, and ACC than SEC. How did you kind of see all of that playing out?
JACKSON: Well, like I kind of alluded to a minute ago, in the SEC down here they have a measureable thing that they really want, so a little taller and a little heavier really. That works for some teams, but not all of them. I think the reality is it’s all chasing a couple teams on top of that league and they have a standard, so everybody else is saying it works for them so we’ll go after the same type of kids.
I asked one specific coach, who I won’t name, if five more pounds really makes a difference, and he said, “Not for me, but it does for our head coach.” For my money, he’s 190 pounds and he’s 17, so he’s got plenty of time and room to grow if he needs to, but I don’ think he does. I think 190 or 195 pounds is plenty big enough for a kid that can move like him. You can’t catch him and he’s as strong as an ox. But I think that’s where that went as far as local teams.
After that, you see teams like Iowa, who just picked up Jayden McDonald, our linebacker from last year, and that’s a big draw and our style of program and our head coach’s culture mirrors what Coach Ferentz has at Iowa. But honestly, I think people that find good football players instead of measurable are the ones that have found Tyler because I honestly believe he’s a great player.
Q: Dealing with the Iowa coaching staff during the recruiting process, what’s been your impression of them?
JACKSON: They do a great job. Their coaches spend time with us and make sure they get to know our kids, not just what they can run or how many touchdowns they have, but about them as a person and what the rest of the team thinks about them. Our team values Tyler at the highest level. He has the most votes for our leadership council. He’s the top vote getter and will definitely be our captain. I think Iowa takes all of that into consideration and gets to know a player’s family as well. They spend a lot of time here and do a great job. I have not met Coach Ferentz yet, but I know Tyler did when he was up there and speaks highly of him. I know you don’t stick around the same place as long as he’s been there without doing it right. We have a lot of respect for what’s going on there at Iowa.
Q: Where do you see Tyler taking a step forward in his senior season coming up?
JACKSON: Well, we graduated our quarterback. Actually, we might be the only team in Georgia that signed two quarterbacks last year. We had a kid named Cade Fortin that was a Texas A&M commit and unfortunately got hurt the second week of the season and ended up signing with North Carolina. Then our backup (Jimmy Urzua) ended up playing and going 14-0 and winning a championship and he’s going to Division II.
I say all of that just to say that we don’t have a quarterback coming back this year, but a lot of the rest of our team. It all starts with running the ball when you have a new quarterback, so I think his workload is going to get increased some this year. We had three solid running backs last year and graduated one, so now we have two solid backs coming back and a third, but his workload will increase and his ability to line up in formation out at receiver is going to help us. Having the ability to get two running backs in the game and give that personnel look to a defense where we end up with four wide receivers with Tyler and still have a tailback in the backfield is going to present some problems. I expect him to have a bigger year stat wise receiving the ball without taking anything away from his rushing stats. I think that’s where his production is going to have to increase overall. I don’t know if you’ve seen, but he can also play quarterback. He threw several halfback passes and did some trick plays for us because he’s just an extremely talented kid and we’re happy to have him.
Q: All of that versatility and ability to play in multiple personnel groups is the type of stuff college coaches love too right?
JACKSON: Oh yeah. They are getting a great player. I’m not going to sit here and say he’s going to show up and be some all-conference player right away, but by the time he’s done - granted if he stays healthy - he will be an all-conference player that people are going to remember for a long time. Because of the way he does things, his teammates will love him and the fans will love him. He’s just a dynamic kid that does everything right.
A three-star prospect, Goodson chose Iowa over scholarship offers from West Virginia, Wake Forest, Nebraska, Iowa State, Michigan State, Boston College, Colorado, Indiana, Kansas State, Kentucky, Syracuse, Washington State, Cincinnati, Central Florida, Marshall, and Memphis, among others.
As a junior, Goodson finished the season with 1,437 yards rushing, 305 yards receiving, and 25 touchdowns for North Gwinnett during their run to a state championship in 2017.
See highlights from Goodson’s junior year in the video below.