Shiel Wood - Cougar Defense

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• Shiel Wood joined University of Houston Football as its Defensive Coordinator in January 2024. He also assists in coaching linebackers. The 2024 season will be his first with the Cougars.

• Wood comes to Houston after one season as Tulane’s Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers Coach, a post he assumed during the spring.

• The 2024 season will be Wood’s 15^th coaching Division I football and 11^th on the defensive side of the ball. In all four seasons as Defensive Coordinator or Co-Defensive Coordinator, his units have ranked inside the Top 25 nationally in rushing yards allowed – including tops in The American in 2023 and first in the Southern Conference in 2017 – and Top 35 for total defense – including second in The American in 2022 and 2023 as well as second in the Southern Conference in 2017.

• In two of the last three seasons, Wood’s defenses have ranked inside the Top 20 nationally in total defense, scoring defense and turnovers forced. In each of the last two seasons, his units ranked either first or second in their respective leagues (The American/Sun Belt) in total defense, scoring defense and turnovers forced.

• In his four seasons as Defensive Coordinator or Co-Defensive Coordinator, Wood has helped Wofford (2017), Army West Point (2021), Troy (2022) and Tulane (2023) to a combined 42-12 record including three bowl games, two conference titles and one FCS Playoffs Quarterfinals run. Between the 2022-23 seasons, he tutored 17 All-Conference honorees including seven First-Team members and the 2022 Sun Belt Conference Defensive Player of the Year in linebacker Carlton Martial.

• In 2023, under the direction of Wood, Tulane led The American Athletic Conference in passes intercepted (17) and turnovers forced (25). The Green Wave’s 25 turnovers gained entering bowl season ranked second nationally and marked the program’s most in seven seasons (27 in 2016).

• The team ranked inside the Top 30 nationally in eight statistical categories including turnovers forced (25; 2nd) passes intercepted (17; 3rd), rushing defense (93.5; 7th), scoring defense (18.9; 19th), fourth-down conversion percentage defense (42.9%; 24th), team sacks/game (2.62; 26th), tackles for loss (6.3; 30th) and fumbles recovered (8; 30th).

• Three defensive players — Darius Hodges, Patrick Jenkins, and Jarius Monroe — earned selections to the All-American Athletic Conference First Team as the Green Wave matched UTSA for the most first-team defensive selections. Defensive back Lance Robinson led The American in interceptions (4), a mark that ranked 16th nationally, while the Green Wave were one of three schools (Liberty, Texas) with 3+ players with 3+ interceptions each.

• Prior to Tulane, Wood was Troy’s Defensive Coordinator, while also working with safeties, during 2022. There, he oversaw a unit that paved the way for Troy’s 12-2 season and first ranking in the final AP Poll at No. 19 after winning the Sun Belt Conference Championship over Coastal Carolina and the Cure Bowl over No. 22 UTSA.

• The Trojan defensive unit ranked eighth nationally in turnovers gained, eighth in scoring defense, 14th in sacks, 19th in total defense and 24th in rushing defense, while finishing ranked in the top five in the Sun Belt Conference for scoring defense, total defense, sacks and interceptions.  

• Martial earned All-America honors for the fourth season after finishing third nationally, averaging 11.2 tackles per game and as the all-time leader in career tackles at the FBS level.

• Prior to serving as the defensive coordinator at Troy, Wood spent two seasons at Army West Point (2020-21), serving as Co-Defensive Coordinator while working with safeties in 2021 after working as inside linebackers coach in 2020.

• During the 2021 campaign, Wood helped guide Army to a 9-4 record, capped by a victory over Missouri in the Armed Forces Bowl. Army ranked 17th nationally, holding opponents to just 328.4 yards per game and 17th allowing only 117.2 yards per game on the ground. The Black Knights were also one of the fewest penalized teams in the country, finishing third with just 3.85 penalties per game.

• Army's defense specialized in getting off the field and limited opposing offenses to just 24:28 time of possession each game, tied for the lowest in the country. 

• Additionally, linebacker Andre Carter, who earned Second Team All-America honors, finished the season with 15.5 sacks tying him for the nation's lead with Alabama's Will Anderson entering the CFP Semifinals.

• In his first year at West Point, Wood helped Army to a 9-3 record while finishing as the top defense in the country at just 275 total yards allowed per game. The linebackers chipped in as part of a run-stopping unit which finished 18th in the country, allowing only 114.6 yards per game on the ground against a schedule full of run-heavy offenses. The Black Knights also ranked in the country's top five in scoring defense (2nd - 14.83 ppg), red zone defense (2nd - .645 scoring pct.) and passing yards allowed (2nd - 160.8 ypg). 

• Under Wood's guidance Army boasted one of the best interior linebacking groups in the nation, led by Second-Team All-American Jon Rhattigan.

• Wood, a former assistant coach at Georgia Tech and defensive coordinator at Wofford, was Georgia State's inside linebackers coach and special teams coordinator during the 2019 season. 

• During the 2019 season, Georgia State matched its school record for victories with seven.  The Panthers posted the third-best improvement nationally with a five-game increase in wins over the previous season.

• Before his stint at Georgia State, Wood coached Georgia Tech's safeties and assisted with special teams, helping the Yellow Jackets to a bowl berth.
 
• As Wofford's defensive coordinator in 2017, Wood directed a unit that led the Southern Conference in rushing defense (121.7 ypg) while ranking second in the league and No. 26 in the FCS in total defense, allowing just 326.7 yards per game.  The defensive effort helped lead Wofford to a 10-3 overall record, the outright SoCon championship (7-1 in league play) and an FCS quarterfinal appearance, where the Terriers fell to eventual national champion North Dakota State. 

• Wood spent a total of eight seasons as an assistant coach at Wofford, coaching the Terriers' wide receivers (2007-10) and safeties (2011-12, 2016-17) and served as recruiting coordinator (2016-17) in addition to his one season as defensive coordinator. 

• In his first two years on the defensive side of the ball (2011-12), the Terriers ranked 17th and ninth in the nation in total defense, respectively. As the Terriers' wide receivers coach (2007-10), he coached two student-athletes who went on to play in the National Football League, including Carolina Panthers wideout Brenton Bersin. 

• In all, Wofford won four SoCon titles and advanced to the FCS playoffs seven times in Wood's eight seasons on the Terriers' staff. 

• Wood started coaching in 2006 at Woodruff (S.C.) High School, where he helped lead the Wolverines to a 9-3 record, regional championship and state playoff berth. 

• A native of Spartanburg, S.C., Wood played wide receiver at Wofford from 2001-05 and was the leading receiver on the Terriers' 2003 squad that won the SoCon championship and advanced to the NCAA Division I-AA semifinals. 

• He graduated from Wofford in 2007 with a bachelor's degree in government.  His wife, Bernadette, was a soccer student-athlete at Wofford.  The couple has two daughters, Fay and Grace.