Dec. 6, 2005

Former Baylor assistant football coach John Goodner, who served on the staffs of Baylor head coaches Grant Teaff and Guy Morriss, passed away Monday evening following a long illness. His funeral is scheduled for 11 a.m. on Friday at Jackson Funeral Home in Frederick, Okla.

Goodner, 61, spent 21 seasons as a Division I-A assistant coach before retiring from Baylor after the 2003 season. He served as Morriss' defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at both Baylor (2003) and Kentucky (2001-02). From 1993 through 1999, he worked at Texas Tech, coaching inside linebackers in 1993 and 1994, before taking on additional responsibilities as the Red Raiders' defensive coordinator from 1995 through 1999.

A native of Frederick, Okla., Goodner broke into the college coaching ranks when Teaff hired him as the Bears' linebackers coach in 1982, a position he held until Teaff retired following the 1992 season. In Teaff's final season, Goodner also served as Baylor's defensive coordinator. During his first tenure at Baylor, he developed All-American James Francis and All-Southwest Conference performers Kevin Hancock, Ray Berry, Gary Joe Kinne, Curtis Hafford and Le'Shai Maston. Baylor notched eight winning seasons and played in five bowl games during Goodner's first term of service in Waco.

Goodner enjoyed tremendous success with the eight-man front. He coached inside linebackers at Texas Tech from 1993-99 under Coach Spike Dykes and was defensive coordinator for his final five seasons. In 1998, Goodner's unit ranked eighth nationally in total defense, yielding only 285 yards per game. In 1995, his first season as Tech's coordinator, the Red Raiders ranked third in the nation in pass efficiency defense, 19th in turnover margin and 24th nationally in scoring defense.

With Goodner as coordinator, Texas Tech produced three first-team All-Americans, including linebacker Zach Thomas, defensive back Marcus Coleman and defensive end Montae Reagor. Coleman and Thomas were first-team All America in 1995, the first time in school history that two Red Raiders earned that honor in the same season. Thomas, Coleman and Reagor all play in the National Football League.

Texas Tech never had a losing season with Goodner on board and the Red Raiders played in five bowl games during his seven seasons. The Red Raiders also led the nation in total takeaways over a five-year period from 1993-97.

Goodner played his college football at Southwestern Oklahoma State, where he graduated from in 1967. He spent 14 years as a high school coach, including head coaching stops at Noble (Okla.) High School, Denison (Texas) High School and Waxahachie (Texas) High School before entering the collegiate ranks at Baylor.

He is survived by his wife, Karen, daughter, Katherine and grandchildren -Kaila and Klemson.