Sunday, August 24, 2008
Fresh start for VMI, coaching vet Woods
Sparky Woods has already implemented several changes in Lexington.
2008 College Football Preview
Photo by Jared Soares | The Roanoke Times
Sparky Woods takes over a VMI team that has a 3-19 record over the past two seasons.
Virginia Tech
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- Macho Harris may double dip this season
- Aaron McFarling: In football, is it chicken or the egg?
- Virginia Tech's schedule
Virginia
- Virginia to endure survivor series as players go missing
- Winning 2007 season seems like ancient history for Virginia football
- Virginia's schedule
Teams in the area
- Ferrum: Dual quarterbacks on horizon for Ferrum | Ferrum at a glance
- Washington & Lee: New digs, schemes for Washington and Lee | W&L at a glance
- Southern Virginia: Schedule could be tougher for Knights | SVU at a glance
The ACC
LEXINGTON — In his first 31 years of college coaching experience, Sparky Woods had never before scanned the practice schedule and found the day the players get their rifles.
Woods laughed, recalling a coaching pal’s response when he shared that little nugget from his newest job as the head football coach at VMI: “They don’t give ’em bullets, do they?”
Keydets defensive lineman Andy Viola said Woods’ sense of humor and his openness have made the team’s transition to a new head coach a smooth one.
“Coach Woods is a very open-minded coach,” Viola said. “He’s always asking the senior players questions. I really respect that.
“And he doesn’t waste time.”
Woods doesn’t have any time to waste. The Keydets are 3-19 over the past two seasons, 0-8 in the Big South, while biting the bullet as then-head coach Jim Reid attempted to set the foundation for a stronger program based on recruiting student-athletes better able to handle the demands of school, military and football obligations at VMI and also on retaining those players.
Reid predicted his plan would take seven years to pay off. But in January, two years into his stated mission, he took an assistant coaching job with the Miami Dolphins.
When Woods was hired in February, he agreed to keep most of Reid’s staff and has refrained from taking a Shermanesque scorched earth approach to the program.
The triple-option offense, run by offensive coordinator Brent Davis, remains intact, Woods said, because it takes advantage of the personnel VMI already has on hand (although he also expects the passing to improve). The Keydets topped the Big South in rushing yards in 2007, led by conference rushing leader Howard Abegesah’s 1,121 yards and Tim Maypray’s conference-record 1,975 all-purpose yards.
Woods moved defensive lineman Ben Brandt to left tackle, calling it “huge” due to Brandt’s size and aggressiveness.
Woods did say that Maypray will likely share quarterbacking duties with Kyle Hughes because “Tim Maypray is one of our most explosive players, and last year sometimes Brent had to work really hard getting the ball to him.”
Fresh off allowing 41.9 points per game, Woods brought in A.J. Christoff as his new defensive coordinator and they switched the Keydets from a 4-3 set to a 3-4.
“We think it makes us faster,” Woods said. “It’s not that the 3-4 is better than the 4-3, it’s the fact that people are spreading more [on offense] and getting faster guys on the outside.”
Viola said the defense is simpler, and guys are “running around more.”
In addition to the style change, the Keydets have gotten safety Kris Ware back after he skipped 2007 to catch up on academics. Ware, Woods said, is “a heavy hitter like a linebacker, and he also has the ability to cover ground.”
Woods said he has been impressed with the character of the players, their discipline and how the older players help the younger ones.
“I sure hope we win some games because they do so many things right,” he said.
