Shiel Wood level-headed ahead of return trip to Houston
Even-keeled Texas Tech defensive coordinator Shiel Wood is as level-headed as ever ahead of his return to Houston this week. His emotion is prevalent in his pregame speeches for the Red Raiders, but Wood was nonchalant about his ties to the Cougars.
“The good thing for us is we’re a process driven ball club. When you focus on that, it doesn’t matter who the opponent is or the situation,” he told the media Monday. “We’re just trying to do a great job with our game plan today to prepare for the practices that we have, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and give our guys the best chance that they can have. The numbers at the point of attack, win their one on one match up.
“Do a great job gameplanning the situations that are going to rise in the ball game. And then I think if we look at it, you know, it’s nice to have a bye week. You get a chance to go back and reflect and study yourself a little bit, with an extra couple of days to kind of prepare for the next opponent. But also catch a breath and see where you’re at. And I think that there’s a lot of things that we need to improve on as a defense. Those are the things we’re focused on.”
Level-headed Wood says Tech has been his favorite place to work
The first-year defensive coordinator said he and the coaching staff work at a “football resort.” It was in reference to the otherworldly facilities Texas Tech has.
When Houston lost Wood, head coach Willie Fritz deduced it was financial constraint that led to Wood’s departure.
“We would’ve liked for him to stay, but it came down to a financial situation. (Texas Tech) was offering a heck of a lot more,” Fritz said in December.
Whether it be the defensive haul Wood got to take over when he arrived, a bigger paycheck or the facilities, it’s not hard to see why Wood chose to bring his abilities to Lubbock. Still, though, he is appreciative of all his prior stops.
What did Wood gather the most from Fritz in their time working together at Houston and Tulane? Wood chose to gather appreciativeness for all of his stops, speaking highly of his short time spent at Tech.
“I’ve enjoyed every place that I’ve worked, and have learned a lot from every experience that I’ve had,” he said. “I would say that I’ve enjoyed working in this place more than any other institution that I’ve worked at, although I’ve been here a brief amount of time. But every place that I’ve worked, I’ve enjoyed working with the coaches and the players that I’ve been privileged to work with. I think you learn from every situation. Different ways that people set things up, organizationally, structurally, schematically, as you learn from different coaches that you work with. My last stop was no exception to that.”
