Alex Wood
Alex Wood went 33–49 as a head coach, 1995–2017, at James Madison, Buffalo and Florida A&M. Share
Seven seasons our game records don’t credit to him come from the coach’s Wikipedia article: 1995–98 at James Madison; 2015–17 at Florida A&M. They’re marked in the table.
- Record
- 33–49 career
- Seasons
- 8
- Schools
- 3
- Final AP top 10
- 0 seasons
- Best season
- 2014 5–6
Season by season
| Season | School | Record | Conference finish | Bowl | AP final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | James Madison * | 8–4 | T–2nd (Mid-Atlantic) | |||
| 1996 | James Madison * | 7–4 | T–5th (Mid-Atlantic) | |||
| 1997 | James Madison * | 5–6 | 10th (Mid-Atlantic) | |||
| 1998 | James Madison * | 3–8 | T–10th (Mid-Atlantic) | |||
| 1999–13: not a college head coach | ||||||
| 2014 | Buffalo interim, final 4 games | 2–2 | 3rd (East) | |||
| 2015 | Florida A&M * | 1–10 | T–8th | |||
| 2016 | Florida A&M * | 4–7 | T–5th | |||
| 2017 | Florida A&M * | 3–8 | T–8th | |||
Each season links to the team’s season page; bowls and playoff games link to the game. Conference finishes from the Wikipedia article’s record table. * A season our game records don’t credit to him; its record is the article’s.
How his teams did
| Kind of game | Games | Record | Won |
|---|---|---|---|
| Against rivals | 1 | 0–1 | 0% |
| Conference games | 4 | 2–2 | 50% |
| Decided by 8 points or fewer | 1 | 0–1 | 0% |
| At home | 2 | 1–1 | 50% |
| On the road | 2 | 1–1 | 50% |
| As our Elo’s favorite | 3 | 2–1 | 67% |
| As our Elo’s underdog | 1 | 0–1 | 0% |
His own four games on file, 2014, as played (vacated wins counted, ties as half a win). Ranks are the AP poll going into the game; rivals are the ones either program’s Wikipedia article names; favorite and underdog by our own Elo rating, which reads only scores.
Most-faced opponents
| Opponent | Games | Record |
|---|---|---|
| Massachusettsseries | 1 | 1–0 |
| Akronseries | 1 | 1–0 |
| Ohioseries | 1 | 0–1 |
| Central Michiganseries | 1 | 0–1 |
National title staffs
Every title staff- Won a national title on Miami’s 1991 staff (running backs) · the staff · source
The champions’ staffs from 1990 on, as the schools listed them that season: Staff lists: Drew Hoover’s how-many-rings (MIT), from the schools’ media guides and staff pages. Roles as the source words them.
Career
| Years | Team | Job | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 | Iowa | Graduate assistant | |
| 1979–80 | Kent State | Wide receivers coach | |
| 1981 | Southern Illinois | Defensive backs coach | |
| 1982–84 | Southern | Defensive coordinator | |
| 1985–86 | Wyoming | Wide receivers and tight ends coach | |
| 1987–88 | Washington State | Tight ends coach | |
| 1989–92 | Miami (FL) | Running backs coach | |
| 1993–94 | Wake Forest | Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| 1995–98 | James Madison | Head coach | |
| 1999–2002 | Minnesota Vikings NFL | Quarterbacks coach | |
| 2003 | Cincinnati Bengals NFL | Wide receivers coach | |
| 2004 | Arizona Cardinals NFL | Offensive coordinator | |
| 2006–07 | Arkansas | Quarterbacks coach | |
| 2010 | Miami (OH) | Wide receivers coach | |
| 2011–14 | Buffalo | Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks and wide receivers coach | |
| 2014 | Buffalo | Interim head coach | |
| 2015–17 | Florida A&M | Head coach | |
| 2018–20 | Delaware | Quarterbacks and wide receivers coach | |
| 2023–24 | Pittsburgh Maulers USFL | Wide receivers coach | |
| 2024–25 | Delaware | Quarterbacks and wide receivers coach | |
| 2026–present | John Carroll | Tight ends coach |
Every job as the infobox of his Wikipedia article lists it (CC BY-SA), assistant jobs included.
Coaching tree
Worked under
- Bob CommingsIowa
- Ron BlackledgeKent State
- Rey DempseySouthern Illinois
- Al KincaidWyoming
- Dennis EricksonWyoming, Washington State, Miami
- Jim CaldwellWake Forest
- Dennis GreenMinnesota Vikings, Arizona Cardinals
- Marvin LewisCincinnati Bengals
- Houston NuttArkansas
- Reggie HerringArkansas
- Lance GuidryMiami (OH)
- Michael HaywoodMiami (OH)
- and 3 more
Assistants who became head coaches
- Ron PrinceKansas State, Howard
- Dennis FitzgeraldKent State
- James FranklinVanderbilt, Penn State, Virginia Tech
- Bernard ClarkRobert Morris
- Lou TepperIllinois, Edinboro, IU Pennsylvania
- Matt SimonNorth Texas
- Theo LemonDuPage, Central State, Savannah State
Worked under (15)
| Head coach | Team | Years | His job | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bob Commings | Iowa | 1978 | Graduate assistant | |
| Ron Blackledge | Kent State | 1979–80 | Wide receivers coach | |
| Rey Dempsey | Southern Illinois | 1981 | Defensive backs coach | |
| Al Kincaid | Wyoming | 1985 | Wide receivers and tight ends coach | |
| Dennis Erickson | Wyoming | 1986 | Wide receivers and tight ends coach | |
| Dennis Erickson | Washington State | 1987–88 | Tight ends coach | |
| Dennis Erickson | Miami | 1989–92 | Running backs coach | |
| Jim Caldwell | Wake Forest | 1993–94 | Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| Dennis Green | Minnesota Vikings NFL | 1999–2001 | Quarterbacks coach | |
| Marvin Lewis | Cincinnati Bengals NFL | 2003 | Wide receivers coach | |
| Dennis Green | Arizona Cardinals NFL | 2004 | Offensive coordinator | |
| Houston Nutt | Arkansas | 2006–07 | Quarterbacks coach | |
| Reggie Herring | Arkansas | 2007 | Quarterbacks coach | |
| Lance Guidry | Miami (OH) | 2010 | Wide receivers coach | |
| Michael Haywood | Miami (OH) | 2010 | Wide receivers coach | |
| Jeff Quinn | Buffalo | 2011–14 | Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks and wide receivers coach | |
| Ryan Carty | Delaware | 2024–25 | Quarterbacks and wide receivers coach | |
| Brian Polian | John Carroll | 2026 | Tight ends coach |
Coached under him, later head coaches (7)
| Coach | With him | Head coach at | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ron Prince | James Madison, 1995–97: offensive line coach | Kansas State, Howard | |
| Dennis Fitzgerald | James Madison, 1997: assistant coach | Kent State | |
| James Franklin | James Madison, 1997: wide receivers coach | Vanderbilt, Penn State, Virginia Tech | |
| Bernard Clark | James Madison, 1998: defensive ends coach | Robert Morris | |
| Lou Tepper | Buffalo, 2014: defensive coordinator and linebackers coach | Illinois, Edinboro, IU Pennsylvania | |
| Matt Simon | Buffalo, 2014: running backs coach | North Texas | |
| Theo Lemon | Florida A&M, 2015: defensive coordinator and defensive line coach | DuPage, Central State, Savannah State |
Other assistants under him (3)
| Coach | With him | |
|---|---|---|
| Kent Schoolfield | James Madison, 1995–96: offensive coordinator | |
| Ted Monachino | James Madison, 1998: defensive line coach | |
| Chris Cosh | Buffalo, 2014: defensive line coach |
From coaches’ Wikipedia infoboxes (CC BY-SA) and each season’s article for its coordinators: an assistant’s seasons at a school count under its head coach in our records; jobs in the NFL and elsewhere, under the head coach whose own article lists the job that year. Names without a page here link to their Wikipedia articles.
Pay
| Year | School | Job | Contract pay | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Buffalo | offensive coordinatorbonuses up to $58,720 | $135,660 USA Today |
USA Today’s coaches salary database (2014–17, from public-records requests to the schools; Rachel Ehlers’ copy): the season’s contract pay, school pay plus outside money, before bonuses.
Pay of public employees in their public job only: head coaches, and assistants in the seasons our records name them a coordinator, at public universities.