New Missouri State Bears football Coach Casey Woods was introduced to the Missouri State and Springfield community during a press event this week.
In his statements, Coach Woods expressed a commitment to being a part of that community and said his decision to take the head coaching job was predicated on the University’s commitment to football. He said MSU President Biff Williams had pledged to make MSU more of a football school then it’d ever been.
The University and the University foundation have put significant resources towards the football program in the last year, as the school transitioned into the more high-profile Conference USA athletics conference. The Bears success in the new conference led to their first modern college football bowl game appearance in December.
During Monday’s event Coach Woods outlined a vision for the team including winning Conference USA and improved recruiting. He described his and the team’s position as at the forefront of advertising for the school and it’s the athletics department. He said with that in mind his goal is to have recruiters visiting all 419 schools that play high school football in Missouri in the next year.
Woods spent the past four seasons as offensive coordinator and football chief of staff at Southern Methodist University. His hire as head coach at MSU was announced in December, after previous coach Ryan Beard departed for a position coaching at Coastal Carolina University.
Woods’ five-year contract begins with a base pay of $700,000 in his first year, with built in annual raises that will bring his pay to $850,000 by year five and numerous incentives and potential for raises dependent on performance.
For comparison, former Coach Beard reportedly had a base pay of $450,000 in his final year at MSU. According to data from USA Today at least three coaches in Conference USA have a base pay of $1 million. Nine of the top 10 coaches in college football have a base salary of over $10 million.
The school followed up Monday’s event with announcements this week that they’ve hired a new defensive coordinator Jack Curtis, who most recently worked for Auburn and offensive coordinator Mark Cala, who most recently worked at UTEP.