ESPN tabs LeVar Woods as minority coach to watch for future Division I head-coaching jobs
Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz would love to have LeVar Woods on his staff for as long as he can. The reality, though, is that successful coordinators continue their upward trajectory and eventually wind up as head coaches of their own.
ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg recently listed 45 minority coaches under the age of 45 to watch as candidates for future Division I head-coaching jobs and the Hawkeyes’ LeVar Woods was unsurprisingly among the coaches mentioned.
Since 2018, Iowa leads the nation in special teams expected points added, and has gone 35-13 despite an often-shaky offense. Woods’ impact on the kicking game and the team has been profound. He has the charisma to lead a program, and has coached positions on both offense and defense. A potential drawback: He has spent his entire career at Iowa, his alma mater. – Rittenberg, ESPN.
Any potential negative can oftentimes be spun into a positive. If an athletic department wanted to knock Woods for only having coached at Iowa, then he can respond that it’s actually something that makes him an attractive candidate. Throughout his coaching career, Woods has demonstrated his loyalty to Iowa and been a key pillar in the Hawkeyes’ collective stability.
Woods’ playing career with the Hawkeyes spanned 1998-00. He was a two-year starter for Iowa, totaling 165 tackles, including 18 tackles for loss and four sacks. In 2000, he was a team captain for Iowa and earned honorable mention All-Big Ten honors from both the league’s coaches and media after registering 97 tackles.
Of course, Woods was a seven-year NFL veteran with Arizona, Chicago, Detroit, and Tennessee where he totaled 168 tackles, 2.5 sacks, four fumble recoveries and one forced fumble in 88 career games.
He joined the Hawkeyes as an administrative assistant from 2008-11, assisting the coaching staff in compiling statistical information, gathering information on opponents and recruits, and with the day-to-day operation of the football office.
After that stint, Woods served as Iowa’s linebackers coach from 2012-14. Anthony Hitchens, Christian Kirksey, and James Morris each recorded over 100 tackles while earning All-Big Ten recognition in 2013. Kirksey and Hitchens were selected in the third and fourth rounds of the 2014 NFL draft.
The Hawkeyes’ defense ranked seventh in the nation in pass defense and 22nd in total defense in 2014 and Woods was honored as the national Linebackers Coaches of the Year by FootballScoop.
Then, from 2015-17, Woods was Iowa’s tight ends coach where he was instrumental in the development of George Kittle, Noah Fant and T.J. Hockenson.
Kittle led the Iowa tight ends in 2016 with 22 receptions for 314 yards, while sharing the team lead with four touchdown receptions. He earned All-Big Ten honorable mention recognition.
In 2017, Fant led all FBS tight ends with an average of 16.5 yards per catch, and his 11 touchdown receptions—an Iowa tight end record—tied as the top figure nationally among tight ends. As a result, he was a third-team All-Big Ten honoree.
In addition, redshirt freshman T.J. Hockenson added 24 receptions for 320 yards and three touchdowns. Fant earned third-team All-Big Ten recognition.
Since taking over as the Hawkeyes’ full-time special teams coordinator in 2018, Woods and Iowa have boasted some of the best units and specialists in the country.
Last season, Iowa had a pair of first-team All-Big Ten specialist selections in kicker Caleb Shudak and return specialist Charlie Jones. Jones was named the Rodgers-Dwight Return Specialist of the Year due to his performance in returning both punts and kickoffs, while Shudak earned first-team honors after leading the team in scoring with 108 points and setting a school record for career field goal accuracy.
Iowa’s special teams last year ranked among the national leaders in kickoff return defense (No. 14), kickoff returns (No. 17) and punt return defense (No. 18). Punter Tory Taylor was 12th in the nation in punting average with 46.1 yards per boot.
Taylor earned first-team All-Big Ten honors in 2020 and helped Iowa lead the Big Ten and rank fifth nationally in net punting at 42.9 yards per punt. Ihmir Smith-Marsette was also named the Rodgers-Dwight Return Specialist of the Year in 2019 after returning a pair of kickoffs for touchdowns.
Looking at all of Woods’ accomplishments and his diverse coaching accumen with the Hawkeyes, it’s easy to see why he would be right toward the top of the list of any future Division I head-coaching candidates.
Not to look too far into the future, but Woods should undoubtedly be on Iowa’s short list to replace Ferentz as the Hawkeyes’ next head coach if and when Ferentz decides to step away.
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