The winningest football coach in Northwestern State history has died. Sam Goodwin, who led the Demons to 102 wins from 1983 through 1999, died last Friday at the age of 82. Former Northwestern State Sports Information Director Doug Ireland says during those 17 seasons, the Pineville native turned the program into a perennial powerhouse in the Southland Conference.
“Four conference championships spanning the beginning and, as it turned out, the end of his coaching tenure here,” Ireland said.
Ireland says not only did Goodwin overachieve as the coach of the team, but he also brought out the best in players who had been overlooked in high school, as evidenced by the number of Demons who went on to play on Sundays after their college careers.
“He produced 38 NFL players, quite a few of whom were not recruited by anyone else, that he saw as diamonds in the rough,” Ireland noted.
Ireland says Goodwin was not just a great mentor on the field, but he was a great mentor off the field as well.
“Sam Goodwin was a person, first and foremost, who became a football savant in many ways, but a coach of people,” Ireland said.
A memorial celebration is slated for April 25th.
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