LSU transfer armoni goodwin patiently working to find his place in uab backfield

By Steve Irvine

BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA - August 15, 2024

His first college football scholarship offer came from UAB running back Hindley Brigham. The way Armoni Goodwin has it figured, that offer is part of the reason he is participating in his first fall camp at UAB is because of that offer.

However, it was hardly a quick process.

At the time, June of 2016, Goodwin was just a few weeks removed from his final day of seventh grade in Florence, Alabama. Brigham was part of Bill Clark’s UAB staff that was trying to rebuild a program. As part of the process, to keep their name fresh in recruits’ minds, Clark held satellite camps throughout the state. The coaches were at Bob Jones High in Madison the day after holding a similar camp at Spanish Fort in South Alabama. Goodwin showed up after the camp started, walking up just as the last of the participants were completing the 40-yard dash.

“This kind of scraggly looking kid walks up,” Brigham said. “He was a late arrival, he’s wearing tennis shoes. You know, there’s a chance I’ve kind of dramatized this, but this is no joke. He looked like he’s a 9th grader, roughly. He’s going into 8th grade at this time. He runs the 40 and ran a 4.41. I timed it. I’m not flawless but I’m relatively accurate. I was like, ‘What? Can you do that again?’ The other guys were already done. He went back down there and he ran another 40. I swear to you, he ran a 4.41. Two times in a row.”

Goodwin, who is now 5-foot-8 and 200 pounds, smiles when asked about his memories of that day.

“I had some shorts on, like some pants shorts,” Goodwin said. “I wasn't even ready. They just told me to come out there, everybody was bigger than me. I was the only one that was like skinny, I didn't have no meat on my bone.”

Obviously, though, he could run. Later that day, during the 7-on-7 work, Goodwin was competing against varsity high school players and he showed that speed again.

“He got a little checkdown over the middle and he just like turned around and just, I mean, left everybody on the field,” Brigham said.

Brigham hustled over for a chat with Goodwin.

“I said it to him just like this, I don’t know if he remembers it, but I was like, ‘Has anybody offered you a scholarship?’” Brigham said. “He was like ‘No sir.’ And I was like, ‘Well, they have now. You got a UAB offer, for sure. We’ll be on the field next year and you’ll see what we can do.’”

Certainly receiving a scholarship offer as a middle schooler, something that Brigham said he’s rarely done in his coaching career, was a surprise. The fact that his speed was the reason that he got noticed is understandable.

“I’ve always been fast,” Goodwin said. “My family is fast, too.”

His dad was a record-setting high school sprinter. Armoni said he’s never beat his dad in a race, even though “we used to stay racing.” His mother was also a sprinter, as well as playing basketball.

“My mom is fast,” Goodwin said. “She beat me until I was like in fifth grade. And after that, when I got older, I was a beating her. We used to go to the trash can, throw the trash out and race home.”

Goodwin flourished on the football field. He was a first team all-state selection as a freshman on the Florence High varsity team. He closed that regular season by rushing for 393 yards with touchdowns of 85, 85, 75 and 6 yards, according to a story on Al.com, in a 45-35 loss to Hewitt-Trussville. Not long after, he transferred to Hewitt-Trussville, where the only time he didn’t earn all-state mention was in a 2019 season that was shortened by his first torn ACL. During his time at Hewitt-Trussville, he rushed for 3,743 yards with 43 touchdowns.

He had grown out of the UAB offer.

 Goodwin was a four-star prospect with a list of scholarship offers that included most of the SEC, including Alabama and Auburn, and several schools in other parts of the country. He chose LSU.

Injuries shaped his time in Baton Rouge.

In three seasons, Goodwin played in 13 games with three starts. He rushed for 322 yards with five touchdowns with 267 of those yards and all of his touchdowns coming in seven games during the 2022 season. He also suffered a pair of injuries in 2022, including a season-ending ACL tear. Overall, his injury list at LSU included the knee injury, a dislocated ankle and hamstring pull. The knee injury forced him to contemplate giving up football.

“I had so many injuries when I was at LSU,” Goodwin said. “I always tell myself, God got a plan for me, I gotta keep going. Some people, with all my injuries, they would have quit. Now, like, I'm getting better. I'm getting better day by day.”

After last season, after not playing in any games, Goodwin searched for a new home. Brigham said the decision to recruit Goodwin came easily. The desire to get Goodwin on campus grew even more during his recruiting trip.

“When he came on his visit, Armoni did a back flip,” Brigham said. “We were walking around in street clothes. We walked on the field and electricity struck him and he jumped up and did a backflip. Coach Dilfer was out there and he’s like ‘Oh my gosh, did you see that?’ I was like, ‘Coach, you ain’t seen nothing yet. Promise.’”

Patience has been the plan since Goodwin stepped on campus. He did some work during spring practice but was very limited. He said it was more maintenance – to protect his hamstrings – than it was injury. He’s taken a similar approach during fall camp but has been involved in a little bit more than in the spring.

“He’s so talented,” Brigham said. “How do we get him the games? How do we keep him healthy, while also pushing him forward in a way that he needs to be pushed forward to realize, not only his potential, but also to be a factor in the conversation with the rest of the running back room.”

Goodwin, who has one more year of eligibility following this season, is content with the patient approach. He is turning heads when he gets the football in his hands, but is also trying to adjust to being back on the field.

“I want to really get, like, comfortable here,” Goodwin said. “I ain't got comfortable yet, because everything been running in my mind, like, new plays. Because I got hurt when I was at LSU, it's my first time in pads in a long time. And I'm just trying to get comfortable with the game now.”

When that happens, look out.

“With Armoni, it was just glaring and obvious from the beginning,” Brigham said. “He had a different caliber of explosiveness and twitch. I say that to say I’ve been watching Armoni for a long time and he is a natural born running back. Armoni Goodwin was born to play running back.”