Florida A&M's President Hires a Winner in Head Football Coach Alex Wood

TALLAHASSEE, Florida -- With the announcement today of the hiring of Head Football Coach Alex Wood, Florida A&M University president Dr. Elmira Mangum delivered on her promise.  In all respects, she selected a strong leader and winner!  I like this hire and the University has my financial support.



THE ALEX WOOD FILE

Overall, Wood brings an impressive coaching resume to FAMU, spanning nearly four decades of work on both the collegiate and professional levels.

From 1989-93 he was part of Dennis Erickson’s staff for the Miami Hurricanes, coaching the running backs, while helping the Canes to a pair of National Championships (1989 and 1991) and a perfect 12-0 season in 1991.

After serving as offensive coordinator for two seasons at Wake Forest (1993-94), he was named as the head football coach at James Madison University.

Wood led the Dukes to an 8-4 record in his first season including a trip to the NCAA Division I-AA playoffs. In his four-year tenure at JMU, Wood compiled a record of 23-22.

Wood moved into the pro ranks in 1999, when he was hired by Dennis Green as the quarterbacks coach of the Minnesota Vikings. He spent four seasons with the Vikings’ organization.

In his first year with the team, the Vikings selected Daunte Culpepper in the first round of the 1999 NFL Draft. By Culpepper’s second season, the young star not only took over the starting quarterback job but earned a start for the National Football Conference (NFC) in the Pro Bowl.

He tied for the NFL lead with 33 passing touchdowns and ranked second in the NFC with 3,937 yards. Culpepper led the Vikings to the NFC Central title and a spot in the conference championship game.

In 2001, Culpepper was lost to a season-ending injury but still managed to finish third in the NFC in completion percentage (64.2).

The Culpepper-Wood combination was back at it again in 2002. Culpepper spearheaded the NFL’s second-ranked offensive unit and in the process the Vikings’ quarterback finished second in the NFC in passing yardage (3,853) for the second time in Wood’s tenure.

Wood was named wide receivers coach by the Cincinnati Bengals in 2003. In his one year in Cincinnati, Wood coached two players in the top 10 of receiving yards in the AFC (Chad Johnson and Peter Warrick). Johnson led the AFC with 1,355 yards on 90 receptions. He also had 10 touchdown receptions.

In 2004, Wood rejoined Green on the staff of the Arizona Cardinals. Wood served one season as the offensive coordinator for the Cardinals, overseeing the offensive staff and handling play-calling responsibilities.

He spent the 2006-07 seasons as the passing game coordinator at the University of Arkansas and ultimately ended up back in the Midwest, helping the RedHawks of Miami of Ohio become the first team in Division I history to go from one victory to double digit wins.



WOOD’S IMPACT AT BUFFALO

The four seasons Wood led the Buffalo offense, the Bulls featured one of the nation’s most prolific attacks both in yardage gained and points scored.

In 2014, The Bulls’ offense rolled up 4,820 total yards (2,855 passing, 1,955 rushing), while averaging 32.3 points per game.

In 2013, UB's offense again flourished, as for the second straight season, the Bulls rushed and passed for over 2,000 yards (2,176 yards rushing, 2,955 yards

passing). The Bulls scored 30 or more points in a school-record eight straight games. Wide Receiver Alex Neutz set the school record with 30 career receiving touchdowns en route to being named All-MAC First Team.

In 2012, UB’s offense rushed for 2,120 yards and passed for 2,391 yards, becoming the first team in the Division I-A era to rush and pass for over 2,000 yards. In addition, Neutz became just the third receiver in school history with 1,000 receiving yards in a single season.

In 2011, his first season as offensive coordinator, the Bulls’ offense saw significant improvement. UB averaged eight more points and 68 more yards of total offense per game than in 2010. Buffalo had 13 plays of 40 or more yards in 2011 - the most in its Division I era.

As wide receiver coach, Wood coached Marcus Rivers to his first All-MAC selection. In addition, Alex Nuetz had the best season of his young career with a team-high 641 receiving yards in only nine games.



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