| Chris Woods | ||
 |
Title | Head Football Coach |
| cjwoods@stonehill.edu | ||
| Phone | 508-565-1318 | |
After guiding his squad to its highest win total in four seasons last fall, Chris Woods is looking for continued success in entering his third season as Head Football Coach at Stonehill College in 2006. The Skyhawks collected four victories against always-rugged Northeast-10 Conference competition in 2005, including a pair of 40-plus point performances against league rivals Saint Anselm and Merrimack as well as the program's second straight 2-0 start, the first time that has happened in over a decade. Four individuals earned all-Northeast-10 accolades for their performances on the gridiron last fall under Woods's tutelage, and another, quarterback Cruz Parsons, became the fifth player in school history to earn the Division II/III Gold Helmet Award from the New England Football Writers and The Boston Globe following a school-record six touchdown performance against Saint Anselm last October.
Since Woods's arrival on the Skyhawk scene, Stonehill has set or tied six school records on both sides of the ball and has posted its highest passing yardage totals in over a decade. With a solid track record of transformation, Woods will look to continue to build the Skyhawk fortunes once again this season, his sixth as a collegiate head coach.
A native of Milton, Mass., Woods came to Stonehill guiding Mansfield (Pa.) University to its highest single-season victory total in 57 years in 2003, as he was named as the 2003 American Football Coaches Association Division II Regional Coach of the Year after guiding Mansfield to an overall mark of 8-3, the Mountaineers' highest win total since 1946 and the school's first winning season on the gridiron since 1975. Woods was in great company with the other 2003 AFCA honorees, which included Oklahoma's Bob Stoops and Southern California's Pete Carroll, and he additionally was named as the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) East Coach of the Year after guiding Mansfield to six straight victories to open the season, the longest such streak since 1946.
Under Woods's direction, Mansfield set numerous records on both sides of the ball during his tenure, as the Mountaineers boasted the third leading rusher in NCAA Division II circles in 2003 as well as a finalist for the Harlon Hill Award which is presented to the top player nationally in Division II. Woods came to Mansfield as the program's defensive coordinator in 2000 before earning the nod as head coach in 2001 and turned the Mountaineers from a two-win squad during his first campaign to their eight-victory season last fall.
Prior to his tenure at Mansfield, Woods served as assistant head coach and defensive coordinator at Wittenberg (Ohio) University, where he helped guide the Tigers to an overall mark of 40-4 that includes two NCAA Division III tournament berths. Chris got his coaching start in New England back in 1994 when he served as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Plymouth State (N.H.) University, helping to lead the Panthers to consecutive undefeated seasons under current University of Massachusetts Head Coach Don Brown.
Woods earned a bachelor of arts degree in sociology and anthropology from Davidson College in Davidson, N.C. in 1991, as he was team captain and Most Valuable Player during his senior campaign for the Wildcats in 1990. Chris also holds the Davidson school record for consecutive games started (41) and was the program's Offensive Most Valuable Player as a sophomore in 1988. Woods shined on the high school gridiron locally at Boston College High School from 1983 to 1986, and he is currently pursuing a master's of sports management degree from the United States Sports Academy in Daphne, Ala.
Chris and his wife Stephanie reside in Easton with their two children: son Braden (5) and daugher Hannah, who was born this past March.
The Woods File
Year School Won Lost Pct.
2001 Mansfield (Pa.) 2 8 .200
2002 Mansfield (Pa.) 3 7 .300
2003 Mansfield (Pa.) 8 3 .727
2004 Stonehill 2 7 .222
2005 Stonehill 4 6 .400
TOTALS 19 31 .380
