Texas Tech University Athletics
Texas Tech announces Wood as defensive coordinator
December 04, 2024 | Football
Shiel Wood arrives as Texas Tech’s defensive coordinator after one season at Houston
LUBBOCK, Texas – Texas Tech head coach Joey McGuire announced Wednesday the hiring of Shiel Wood as the Red Raiders' new defensive coordinator.
One of the top up-and-coming defensive coaches in the country, Wood arrives at Texas Tech following one season in a similar position at Houston where he helped the Cougars transform into one of the Big 12 Conference's top defenses this past season. Wood boasts 15 years of experience at the Division I level and has been a defensive coordinator each of the past four seasons with stops at Army, Troy and Tulane.
"We're excited to welcome Coach Wood and his family to our program," McGuire said. "Coach Wood has a proven track record of immediately improving defenses and creating havoc with turnovers, which was exactly the philosophy we were looking for as we move forward as a program. We believe we have a strong, young nucleus defensively that is only going to improve under Coach Wood's guidance."
At Houston this past season, Wood immediately improved a defense that ranked 105th nationally for scoring (31.5) and 112th for total defense (423.9) in the year prior to his arrival, cutting those totals to 22.9 points and 324.8 yards per game in 2024. Houston currently ranks 26th nationally and second in the Big 12 for total defense as well as 28th for passing defense after surrendering only 188.8 yards per game through the air, another drastic improvement from the 255.3 yards and 114th ranking prior to his arrival.
Wood's defenses have ranked inside the top 35 for total defense in all five seasons since he was first named a co-defensive coordinator at Army in 2021. Since then, he has also made stops as the defensive coordinator at Troy in 2022, Tulane in 2023 and then Houston this past season. He was also the defensive coordinator at Wofford, his alma mater, in 2017.
His defenses helped push Troy to a 12-win season and Sun Belt Championship in 2022, while Tulane finished with 11 wins and an appearance in the American Championship in 2023. Army, meanwhile, was an impressive 9-4 overall during his lone season as a co-defensive coordinator after a victory over Missouri in the Armed Forces Bowl.
Both his defenses at Troy and Tulane ranked in the top 10 nationally for takeaways with the Trojans finishing eighth in the FBS with 27 turnovers gained, while the Green Wave were third a year later with the same amount. Houston created 19 takeaways this past season as the Cougars are currently 38th in the FBS and fifth in the Big 12 for turnover gained.
Wood's tenure at Army began in 2020 as the inside linebackers coach. He has coached both linebackers and safeties during his career and has served as the special teams coordinator twice at both Georgia Tech (2018) and Georgia State (2019). He was part of bowl teams in both of those last two stops as Georgia State played in the Arizona Bowl, while Georgia Tech was selected for the Quick Lane Bowl.
Wood began his coaching career on the opposite side of the ball, serving as the wide receivers coach at Wofford from 2007-10 before moving over to coach safeties from 2011-12. He was named Wofford's defensive coordinator in 2017 as he directed a unit that led the Southern Conference in rushing defense (121.7 yards per game) and ranked second in the league and No. 26 in the FCS for total defense at only 326.7 yards per game. Wofford finished 10-3 that season, winning the outright SoCon title with a 7-1 league record before advancing to the FCS quarterfinals where the Terriers fell to eventual national champion North Dakota State. Â
Wood, a native of Spartanburg, South Carolina, played wide receiver at Wofford from 2001-05 and was the Terriers' leading receiver in 2023 for a team that won the SoCon Championship and advanced to the semifinals of the NCAA Division I-AA playoffs.
Wood graduated from Wofford in 2007 with a bachelor's degree in government. He and his wife, Bernadette, are parents to two daughters, Fay and Grace. Bernadette Wood was also a student-athlete at Wofford, competing in soccer.
SHIEL WOOD COACHING HISTORY
2024 – Houston Defensive Coordinator
2023 – Tulane Defensive Coordinator (Linebackers)
2022 – Troy Defensive Coordinator (Safeties)
2021 – Army Co-Defensive Coordinator (Safeties)
2020 – Army Assistant Coach (Inside Linebackers)
2019 – Georgia State Special Teams Coordinator (Inside Linebackers)
2018 – Georgia Tech Assistant Coach (Safeties/Special Teams)
2017 – Wofford Defensive Coordinator (Safeties/Recruiting Coordinator)
2016 – Wofford Assistant Coach (Safeties/Recruiting Coordinator)
2011-12 – Wofford Assistant Coach (Safeties)
2007-10 – Wofford Assistant Coach (Wide Receivers)
2006 – Woodruff High School (S.C.) High School Assistant Coach