Raymond Woodie Jr. (born November 2, 1973) is an American

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

coach. He is the head football coach for

Bethune–Cookman University Bethune–Cookman University (B–CU or Bethune–Cookman) is a Private university, private Historically black colleges and universities, historically black university in Daytona Beach, Florida. Bethune–Cookman University is affiliated wit ...

, a position he has held since 2023. He played college football for Bethune–Cookman before playing professionally for the

BC Lions The BC Lions are a professional Canadian football team based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Lions compete in the West Division (CFL), West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), and play their home games at BC Place. The Lions playe ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

(CFL). He also coached for Bayshore High School, Palmetto High School,

Western Kentucky Western Kentucky is the western portion of the U.S. state of Kentucky. It generally includes part or all of several more widely recognized regions of the state. ;Always included * The Jackson Purchase, the state's westernmost generally recogniz ...

South Florida South Florida, sometimes colloquially shortened to SoFlo, is the Regions of the United States#Florida, southernmost region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is one of Florida's three most commonly referred to directional regions; the two others are ...

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

Florida State Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...

, and Florida Atlantic.

Playing career

Woodie grew up in

Palmetto, Florida Palmetto is a city in Manatee County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was listed as 13,323, up from 12,606 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Sarasota metropolitan area, North Port–Bradenton–Sarasota, Florida ...

, and played

high school football High school football, also known as prep football, is gridiron football played by High school (North America), high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular high school sports, interscholastic sports in both c ...

for Palmetto High School.

College career

Woodie played

for Bethune–Cookman. With the Wildcats he played as a linebacker and safety. He earned All-

MEAC The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC ) is a collegiate athletic conference whose full members are historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the Southeastern and the Mid-Atlantic United States. It participates in the Nation ...

honors and all

Division I-AA The NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), formerly known as Division I-AA, is the second-highest level of college football in the United States, after the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). Sponsored by the National Collegiate A ...

honors in his junior and senior seasons.

Professional career

In 1996, Woodie signed with the

of the

(CFL). He suffered a career-ending ankle injury with the team.

Coaching career

High school coaching

Following Woodie's stint in the CFL he joined Bayshore High School as the team's

defensive coordinator A defensive coordinator (DC) is a coach responsible for a gridiron football team's defense. Generally, the defensive coordinator, offensive coordinator and special teams coordinator represent the second level of a team's coaching structure, wit ...

in 1996. The following season in 1997 he was promoted to the school's

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

, and became the youngest head coach in

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

at the age of 23. In ten seasons with the school he led the Bruins to seven playoff appearances. In 2007, Woodie returned to his alma mater, Palmetto High School, to be their head coach. In 2008 he led the team to a district title.

Early college coaching

After thirteen years of coaching

, Woodie joined

as their

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

s coach. In 2012, he was promoted to

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

s coach. In 2015, Woodie was hired by

to be their linebackers coach. After two seasons he also earned the role of assistant head coach alongside being the linebackers coach. In 2016, he was promoted to defensive coordinator. In 2017, Woodie joined

as the team's

special teams coordinator A special teams coordinator (STC) is a Coach (sport), coach responsible for a gridiron football team's special teams unit. Generally, the special teams coordinator, offensive coordinator, and defensive coordinator represent the second level of a t ...

and outside linebackers coach. Following one season with the Ducks, Woodie returned to the state of Florida, this time with

as their linebackers coach. After two seasons with Florida State, Woodie joined Florida Atlantic as the team's outside linebackers coach. He was promoted to special teams coordinator, assistant head coach, and outside linebackers coach for the 2021 season.

Bethune–Cookman

On February 5, 2023, Woodie returned to Bethune–Cookman to be the school's next head coach after the team failed to agree on a contract with

Ed Reed Edward Earl Reed Jr. (born September 11, 1978) is an American former professional football player who was a safety in the National Football League (NFL), spending the majority of his career with the Baltimore Ravens. He played college footbal ...

Personal life

Woodie's son, Raymond Woodie III, is a

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

for Bethune–Cookman.

Head coaching record

College

High school

References

External links

Bethune–Cookman profile

Florida Atlantic profile

Oregon profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Woodie, Raymond 1973 births Living people American football linebackers American football safeties Bethune–Cookman Wildcats football coaches Bethune–Cookman Wildcats football players BC Lions players Florida Atlantic Owls football coaches Florida State Seminoles football coaches Oregon Ducks football coaches South Florida Bulls football coaches Western Kentucky Hilltoppers football coaches High school football coaches in Florida Sportspeople from Palmetto, Florida Coaches of American football from Florida Players of American football from Manatee County, Florida African-American coaches of American football 20th-century African-American sportsmen 21st-century African-American sportsmen