Former Tennessee Vols wide receiver is reportedly among the ‘final options’ for open head coaching job

A former Tennessee Vols wide receiver is a candidate to land a head coaching job during this winter’s coaching cycle.

Zach Ragan — Tennessee Volunteers News Writer
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A former Tennessee Vols wide receiver is reportedly one of the “final options” for a college football head coaching job.

The Athletic’s Chris Vannini noted on Wednesday that former Volunteers wide receiver Casey Woods is one of the final options to take over for Trent Dilfer as the new head coach at UAB.

Woods, who played at Tennessee from 2003 to 2007, is in his fourth season as SMU’s offensive coordinator. He previously served as the tight ends coach at UAB from 2017 to 2019.

“At UAB, SMU offensive coordinator Casey Woods is among the final options,” wrote Vannini. “Navy offensive coordinator Drew Cronic (a former Mercer head coach) is also a name to watch, while Mercer’s Mike Jacobs and Presbyterian’s Steve Englehart were in the mix earlier.”

Woods saw action in 41 games at Tennessee. He was a team captain in 2007, which was the last time the Vols won the SEC East.

Casey Woods has worked his way up the coaching ladder over the past two decades

After finishing his playing career, Woods served as a graduate assistant at Tennessee in 2008. Woods then joined Auburn’s staff for three seasons as a quality control assistant. He was with Auburn in 2010 when the Tigers won the national championship behind the elite play of quarterback Cam Newton.

Woods served as the wide receivers coach at Arkansas State for one season before returning to Auburn as the director of player personnel for three seasons. The former Tennessee wide receiver returned to an on-field role in 2017 at UAB. Woods also spent two seasons as the tight ends coach at Missouri (2020 and 2021) before landing at SMU.

If Woods doesn’t get the UAB job, he could be a name to keep an eye on if Josh Heupel has any openings on his Tennessee coaching staff this offseason. There are no direct connections between Heupel and Woods, but the former Vol is clearly a well-thought-of offensive mind in college football.

Notably, Woods doesn’t call plays during SMU’s regular season. But he calls the plays during spring practice under head coach Rhett Lashlee.

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