Graham athletic director Jordan Shumaker said Woods will be approved at next Monday’s school board meeting. Woods replaces John Tullis, who resigned after one season as head coach and the previous 26 as an assistant.
“The kids really like him and they really respect him,” Shumaker said. “He’s real high energy, so I think that’s a lot better than we’ve been in the past.”
Woods was a volunteer assistant at Southeastern, his alma mater, two years ago. He joined Tullis’ staff last year as the head JV coach and as a varsity assistant on offense.
“The other coaches that were on staff all really liked him,” Shumaker said. “He was the only on-staff person that applied because they wanted it to be him.”
Woods shared his simple philosophy with the players.
“We talked this morning that the strive for success has to be greater than the fear of failure,” he said. “And we have to get to that point. That’s changing the culture at Graham, and that’s the most difficult thing for a coach to do.”
Woods has more simple messages for his team before the first game. The Falcons were 10-40 the past five years after going 8-2 and 5-0 in the Central Buckeye Conference Mad River Division in 2009.
First, he wants them to ignore the notion of rebuilding. He believes that can happen with a roster that could include as many as 18 seniors and a robust 70 players in total. The junior class is small with about 10, but an athletic sophomore class could be as large as 25.
“I think rebuilding has a negative connotation – we’re accepting losing,” Woods said. “When one guy graduates, it’s next guy up. They’re expected to do that same job at a high level and be successful.”
Woods, who played quarterback and free safety for Hal Perry at Southeastern, is simplifying the playbook.
“I want to make our offense, defense and special teams simplified so that we can play faster,” he said. “The teams that know what they’re doing on the field play faster than the teams that don’t.”
He won’t disclose his offense and defense yet, but he says passing will play a more prominent role.
“We will be an aggressive team that will force teams to pack the box, and then we will exploit their weakness in the passing game,” he said.
Woods played football, basketball and baseball at Southeastern and baseball at Urbana University and Clark State. His father, Rick Woods, was a longtime football assistant and the longtime head baseball coach for the Trojans.
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