March 27, 2016
As a youngster, Casey Woods didn't wait for special occasions to follow his father to work.
He was there for the daily grind. He tagged along and soaked up knowledge. He stood near his father on the most enjoyable day of the week. He not only learned how special those Saturdays in the fall were but also got an unobstructed view of life as a college football coach.
"I guess I knew from an early age I wanted to coach," said Woods, who is in his first year coaching the UAB wide receivers.
Needless to say, he came about the decision naturally. Woods' father, Sparky, spent a lifetime coaching football with stops at 12 colleges and one season in the NFL with the New York Jets. He was the head coach at Appalachian State, South Carolina and VMI and is entering his second season as the associate head coach at Richmond.
Casey, who will turn 33 in May, was by his side for a bulk of his father's career.
"I have fond memories of being around the whole program in general," Woods said. "Obviously, game day is a little different as a coach's kid. It's a little nerve-wracking. I loved the sights and the sounds and being around the game. I think being around the program as a whole, being around practice, being around the equipment room, being around the training room was special. You get to meet so many fantastic people, and they're all working toward one goal. It's a cool thing to see."
He was a player before he became a coach. Woods was an all-state quarterback selection in Mississippi as a senior at Starkville Academy. He was with the University of Tennessee football program from 2003-07, playing in 41 games overall with most of his action coming as the team's holder. He also played wide receiver but knew his playing days were over when his college eligibility expired.
Woods attempted to give himself other options besides coaching. He began college as a bio-medical engineering major, with urging from his mother, Jean Ann, to eventually apply for medical school; but he "ran into chemistry pretty fast." He also had thoughts of applying for law school but followed his heart into coaching.
He spent the 2008 season as a graduate assistant at Tennessee. His coaching debut came in the season opener at UCLA.
"It was the first game that I coached and not played," Woods said. "I thought, ‘How in the world can they play without me playing?' They kept marching on anyway. That's a good lesson to anyone at the end of their playing career. To see them keep playing games after you're done is certainly humbling and reminds you how short playing the game can be."
He began a three-year stint at Auburn the next season and was part of the 2010 national championship team. He served for one season as the wide receiver coach and recruiting coordinator at Arkansas State before following Gus Malzahn back to Auburn. Woods had a different role, serving in an off-the-field position as the program's director of Player Personnel, in his second stint at Auburn.
Woods discussed a possible coaching position with Bill Clark during Clark's lone season at Jacksonville State. That discussion didn't turn into a job offer at that point, but Woods jumped at the chance to join Clark's UAB staff.
"This is really an exciting opportunity for me," Woods said. "Now that we're here, we see what the city has invested in it, see what the university is starting to do; we see the vision Coach Clark has for where this program's going. We see a commitment level that has never been here at UAB. That's really a cool thing to be a part of, just from a historical standpoint."
Woods is very aware that coaching jobs can change quickly in college. Moving vans and new schools were a big part of his childhood. He lived in seven different states while growing up and moved three times in five years on two different occasions. The teams he rooted for changed nearly as consistently as fall turned into winter.
"One of the great things my dad and mom taught us was, when we went to a place, we were all in," Woods said. "We bought a house. We got involved in the community. We never moved to a place expecting to move again. Sometimes we moved for good reasons; sometimes we moved for bad reasons. You do learn, when your colors change, you transition. But, when you're in, you're there. I've got no plans in ever coaching anywhere else, other than UAB. That's the approach and the attitude that we take. That goes from the license plates on our cars to the colors that my wife can wear to church, to what my daughter wears in her crib."