Phillip Perry "Sparky" Woods (born December 20, 1953) 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 was most recently a senior adviser for the football team at the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC, UNC–Chapel Hill, or simply Carolina) is a public university, public research university in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States. Chartered in 1789, the university first began enrolli ...

. Woods served as the head football coach at

Appalachian State University Appalachian State University (), or App State, is a Public university, public research university in Boone, North Carolina, United States. It was founded as a normal school, teachers' college in 1899 by brothers B. B. and D. D. Dougherty and th ...

from 1984 to 1988, the

University of South Carolina The University of South Carolina (USC, SC, or Carolina) is a Public university, public research university in Columbia, South Carolina, United States. Founded in 1801 as South Carolina College, It is the flagship of the University of South Car ...

from 1989 to 1993, and the

Virginia Military Institute The Virginia Military Institute (VMI) is a public senior military college in Lexington, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1839 as America's first state military college and is the oldest public senior military college in the U.S. In k ...

(VMI), from 2008 to 2014.

Playing career

Woods attended Oneida High School, where he is in its Hall of Fame. He holds the record for the most interceptions in a season. He played

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

and

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 ...

at Carson–Newman College before graduating in 1976.

Coaching career

Woods was named the 30th head coach at VMI on February 13, 2008. Before arriving at VMI, Woods had over 30 years of college and professional coaching experience. When coaching at South Carolina, a song about Woods entitled "Sparky Rock" was released on cassette tape. On November 24, 2014, it was announced by VMI that Woods' contract would not be renewed by Athletic Director Dave Diles. The announcement came less than a day after a 45–25 loss to arch rival

The Citadel The Citadel Military College of South Carolina (simply known as The Citadel) is a public senior military college in Charleston, South Carolina, United States. Established in 1842, it is the third oldest of the six senior military colleges ...

, ending a 2–10 season for the Keydets. In seven seasons, Woods compiled a 17–62 record at VMI, including a mark of 9–32 in conference play. On February 20, 2015, he was named running backs coach, recruiting coordinator, and associate head coach, at the

University of Richmond The University of Richmond (UR or U of R) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Richmond, Virginia, United States. It is a primarily undergraduate, residential institution with approxim ...

. In 2019, Woods joined

Mack Brown William Mack Brown (born August 27, 1951) is an American former college football coach. Brown most recently coached at the University of North Carolina, where he had two stints, first from 1988 until 1997, and again from 2019 until his firing ...

's staff at the

as a senior adviser to Brown.

Personal life

Woods and his wife, Jean Ann, have two children, a daughter, Emily, and a son, Casey who is on the SMU football staff.

Head coaching record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Woods, Sparky 1953 births Living people Alabama Crimson Tide football coaches Appalachian State Mountaineers football coaches Carson–Newman Eagles football players Iowa State Cyclones football coaches Kansas Jayhawks football coaches Memphis Tigers football coaches Mississippi State Bulldogs football coaches New York Jets coaches North Alabama Lions football coaches North Carolina Tar Heels football coaches Richmond Spiders football coaches South Carolina Gamecocks football coaches Tennessee Volunteers football coaches Virginia Cavaliers football coaches VMI Keydets football coaches People from Scott County, Tennessee