I really didn’t know if letting Deruyter go was a good idea, but damn… we are about to upgrade
Shiel Wood can coach some Defense
I could dig deeper and look at how impressive he was at Tulane, but let’s go with just 2024 in his first year as a Big 12, Power 4 coordinator. (Houston’s defense ranked Top 25 nationally this season)
Houston sucked in way of wins and losses, but it definitely was NOT the defense’s fault.
Big 12 Ranks 2024:
Per game averages
Total Yards: 2nd
Pass Yards: 3rd
Rushing: 5th
Points: 7th at 22.9 but that was only 3 points off the leader ISU at 19.6 and 22.9 is a full 11 points better than Texas Tech who came in 15th with 34.5
UH only gave up 30 or more 4 times and they only gave up 40 points ONE time this season
Extremely stingy and in the Big 12, that’s a championship contender quality. You don’t have to hold them scoreless to win games, but keeping them below 30 a game equals a lot more wins than losses when you have a legit offense backing you up.
Houston also allowed only 34 TDs on the year. Tech allowed 53 TDs in comparison.
In fact the only major stat where Tech was better defensively was in turnovers gained. Tech had 21, Houston had 19
Bonus stat I love:
Houston allowed only 3.8 yards per rushing attempt this season… damn
Wood’s defense was better or right behind the Big 12 defensive leaders in almost every aspect. And again, this was just his first season in H-Town and in the Big 12.
In almost every metric you went and found an in conference/in state upgrade. And I think he looks at this gig as a major upgrade as well. Talent, finances, fan support, offensive support etc.
He will be walking into a young but extremely athletic and talented Red Raider defense. Hopefully led by the best defensive player in the Big 12 in Jacob Rodriguez.
Maybe the best “stat” and the thing that jumps out the most; if you’ve watched the way Wood’s guys play for him, it’s clear he gets full buy in and they really trust in him. They play hard every single game and this was a 4-8 team. I noticed this at Tulane during that Fritz era as well and it translated the same when Wood got to Houston.
“Even with the amount of mistakes, we’re still holding the best offenses in the country to their season minimums,” UH inside linebacker Jamal Morris said. “Thank you to Coach (Shiel) Wood and all his staff for putting us in position to be successful.”
To sum it up, if the plan is to win championships, then it starts with defense. And you just got yourself a big get.
Shiel Wood can coach some Defense
I could dig deeper and look at how impressive he was at Tulane, but let’s go with just 2024 in his first year as a Big 12, Power 4 coordinator. (Houston’s defense ranked Top 25 nationally this season)
Houston sucked in way of wins and losses, but it definitely was NOT the defense’s fault.
Big 12 Ranks 2024:
Per game averages
Total Yards: 2nd
Pass Yards: 3rd
Rushing: 5th
Points: 7th at 22.9 but that was only 3 points off the leader ISU at 19.6 and 22.9 is a full 11 points better than Texas Tech who came in 15th with 34.5
UH only gave up 30 or more 4 times and they only gave up 40 points ONE time this season
Extremely stingy and in the Big 12, that’s a championship contender quality. You don’t have to hold them scoreless to win games, but keeping them below 30 a game equals a lot more wins than losses when you have a legit offense backing you up.
Houston also allowed only 34 TDs on the year. Tech allowed 53 TDs in comparison.
In fact the only major stat where Tech was better defensively was in turnovers gained. Tech had 21, Houston had 19
Bonus stat I love:
Houston allowed only 3.8 yards per rushing attempt this season… damn
Wood’s defense was better or right behind the Big 12 defensive leaders in almost every aspect. And again, this was just his first season in H-Town and in the Big 12.
In almost every metric you went and found an in conference/in state upgrade. And I think he looks at this gig as a major upgrade as well. Talent, finances, fan support, offensive support etc.
He will be walking into a young but extremely athletic and talented Red Raider defense. Hopefully led by the best defensive player in the Big 12 in Jacob Rodriguez.
Maybe the best “stat” and the thing that jumps out the most; if you’ve watched the way Wood’s guys play for him, it’s clear he gets full buy in and they really trust in him. They play hard every single game and this was a 4-8 team. I noticed this at Tulane during that Fritz era as well and it translated the same when Wood got to Houston.
“Even with the amount of mistakes, we’re still holding the best offenses in the country to their season minimums,” UH inside linebacker Jamal Morris said. “Thank you to Coach (Shiel) Wood and all his staff for putting us in position to be successful.”
To sum it up, if the plan is to win championships, then it starts with defense. And you just got yourself a big get.
