TJ Woods, who has 17 years of collegiate coaching experience, is in his fourth season as Utah State’s offensive line coach. This is Woods’ second tenure with USU as he also coached the Aggies from 2009-12. In all, Woods is entering his 11th season under USU head coach Gary Andersen at three different schools, including his sixth at USU.
As Utah State’s offensive line coach in 2019, Woods helped four offensive players earn all-Mountain West honors. Furthermore, USU’s offense set school records in passes completed (315) and attempted (504), while its 3,628 passing yards are the second-most.
Woods also helped Utah State to its 14th bowl game all-time in 2019, including its eighth in the past nine seasons, as it played in the Tropical Smoothie Cafe Frisco Bowl.
Before his current position, Woods spent the 2018 season as the offensive line coach at Western Kentucky. At WKU, Woods inherited an offensive line group that did not return a single starter at their respective position and just two starters – at any position – from the 2017 group. WKU was also one of only three teams in the nation without a senior offensive lineman.
From the 2017 to 2018 season, Western Kentucky’s rushing yards per game improved by 75.98, eighth-best nationally, and its yards per carry increased by 1.72, fifth-best nationally. Furthermore, WKU allowed 16 fewer sacks in 2018 as compared to 2017, the 10th-best improvement in the nation.
Woods came to Western Kentucky following a three-year stint at Oregon State, where he coached four offensive linemen to Pac-12 All-Conference honors and saw two of his linemen, Sean Harlow and Isaac Seumalo, get drafted into the NFL. Harlow was a fourth-round selection of the Atlanta Falcons in 2017, while Seumalo went in the third round to Philadelphia in 2016.
Under Woods’ direction, the Oregon State offense carried the ball for a school-record 5.2 yards per carry in 2016. Furthermore, seven of his offensive linemen were named to the Pac-12 Conference All-Academic team during his time in Corvallis.
Prior to Oregon State, Woods served as the offensive line coach at Wisconsin, where his group helped block for running back Melvin Gordon in 2014, when he won the Doak Walker Award and was a Heisman Trophy finalist. That season, Gordon rushed for 2,587 yards, second-most in a single season in FBS history, and set then-FBS single-game rushing record with 408 yards.
Behind Woods’ offensive line, Gordon and fellow running back Corey Clement set the NCAA record for rushing by two backs with 3,536 yards. That 2014 season also saw the Badger offensive front set a school record for fewest sacks allowed with 13, as well as a Big Ten Conference record with 4,482 net rushing yards.
In his first season with Wisconsin in 2013, the Badgers set a then-school record with 3,689 rushing yards, to go along with a school record 450.8 yards per game of total offense. With Woods’ offensive line leading the way, Gordon and fellow running back James White became the first running backs in NCAA history to each eclipse 1,400 rushing yards in the same season.
In all, Woods mentored seven All-Big Ten players at Wisconsin, including four All-Americans, highlighted by Rob Havenstein, who was selected by the Los Angeles Rams in the second round of the 2015 NFL Draft.
Before Wisconsin, Woods spent four years at Utah State (2009-12), including the final two directing the offensive line. The Aggies rewrote the offensive record books by setting then-school records for total offense in consecutive seasons, concluding with 6,108 yards in 2012. Woods coached five players to All-Western Athletic Conference honors, including Tyler Larsen and Philip Gapelu in 2011. Larsen, who earned second-team All-America honors as a senior in 2013, is now a six-year NFL veteran having spent the past four seasons with the Carolina Panthers.
A former player at Azusa Pacific (2001-02) as well as Iowa State and Citrus Junior College, where he earned NJCAA All-American honors in 1999, Woods got his coaching start as a graduate assistant at Azusa Pacific in 2003. After a two-year run as the school’s tight ends coach, where he coached Ricky Burgan to NAIA All-American honors, he spent a season coaching the offensive line at Citrus before going to New Mexico for two seasons to serve as a graduate assistant on the offensive line. Offensive lineman Eric Cook was drafted by the Washington Redskins in the seventh round of the 2010 NFL Draft, while Byron Bell was named a freshman All-American in 2008.
Currently, eight of Woods’ former offensive line pupils are active on NFL rosters, including Beau Benzschawel (Detroit Lions), Blake Brandel (Minnesota Vikings), Michael Deiter (Miami Dolphins), Larsen (Carolina Panthers), Havenstein (Los Angeles Rams), Harlow (Atlanta Falcons), Seumalo (Philadelphia Eagles) and Tyler Marz (Carolina Panthers).
Woods and his wife Kelly have two daughters, Madison and McKenzie. A 2002 graduate from Azusa Pacific with a business degree, Woods continued to pursue his education and earned his master’s in physical education from Azusa Pacific in 2005.
TJ Woods File
Coaching History:
2019 – Utah State – Offensive Line
2018 – Western Kentucky – Offensive Line
2017 – Oregon State – Run Game Coordinator/Offensive Line
2016 – Oregon State – Co-Offensive Coordinator/Offensive Line/Tight Ends
2015 – Oregon State – Offensive Line
2013-14 – Wisconsin – Offensive Line
2011-12 – Utah State – Offensive Line
2009-10 – Utah State – Tight Ends/Special Teams
2007-08 – New Mexico – Graduate Assistant/Offensive Line
2006 – Citrus JC – Offensive Line/Run Game Coordinator
2004-05 – Azusa Pacific – Tight Ends
2003 – Azusa Pacific – Graduate Assistant/Offensive Line
Bowl Games (5):
Utah State (3) – Frisco, 2019; Famous Idaho Potato, 2012; Famous Idaho Potato, 2011
Wisconsin (2) – Outback, 2014, Capital One, 2013
New Mexico (1) – New Mexico, 2007
Conference/Division Championships (2):
Wisconsin – Big Ten West Division, 2014.
Utah State – WAC, 2012.
Playing Experience:
2001-02 – Azusa Pacific – Offensive Line
2000 – Iowa State – Offensive Line
1999 – Citrus JC – Offensive Line
Education:
2005 – Azusa Pacific – M.S., Physical Education
2002 – Azusa Pacific – Business
Family:
Wife, Kelly; Daughters, Madison, McKenzie