A veteran collegiate coach, Chris Woods completed his
second year at Bryant University in 2009 coaching the
defensive line and serving as the team's recruiting
coordinator. The Bryant defense was ranked first in the
Northeast Conference in scoring defense with 17.3 points allowed
per game and finished the season ranked second in both passing
defense (141.5 yards allowed) and total defense (287.4
ypg).
Defensive end Don Smith earned All-Conference honors with eight
sacks and was named All-New England in 2009 by the New England
Football Writers Association.
In his first season at Bryant, the Bulldogs finished the year
nationally ranked in several defensive categories, including
rushing defense (16th - 100.82 yards per game) and sacks (tied for
15th wtih 2.64 sacks per game). The Bulldogs led the country
through the first three weeks of the season in interceptions and
finished tied for 17th with 17.
Prior to arriving at Bryant, Woods was an assistant at Harvard
University in 2007, coaching the Crimson's special teams and
linebackers.
Woods was the head coach at Stonehill College for three seasons
where he recruited the school's three largest classes and
guided the program to its best record since the formation of the
league in 2004.
Woods also enjoyed a successful three-year term as head coach at
Mansfield, where he was named the PSAC coach of the year and the
AFCA Region II coach of the year in 2003. Woods led the
Mountaineers to an 8-3 record in his third year, its first winning
season since 1975.
Woods spent four years (1996-99) as an assistant head coach,
defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at Wittenberg, where he
helped that program to a 40-4 record and two appearances in the
NCAA playoffs.
He also served as interim head coach at Plymouth State in 1994-95
and was part of two teams that went undefeated in the regular
season and advanced to the NCAA Division III tournament.
Originally from Milton, Mass., Woods attended Boston College High
School before continuing his playing career at Davidson. Graduating
in 1991, Woods served as captain of the football team. He was the
Wildcats' team MVP as a senior and started in a school-record 41
games.
A member of the AFCA since 1994, Woods was a member of the
NCAA Northeast Regional Advisory Committee and has been a
regular speaker and clinician in New England and the Midwest.
Woods lives in Norton, Mass., with his wife, Stephanie, their son,
Braden (8), and their daughter, Hannah (3).
