Merely days after announcing that they were parting ways with defensive coordinator Tim DeRuyter, Texas Tech has announced his replacement, and they didn’t have to go far to get him.
After heading up one of the best defenses in the entire Big 12 in 2024, Houston defensive coordinator Shiel Wood has been announced as the next DC for the Red Raiders.
Wood has spent 15 years coaching at the Division I level, and has served as a defensive coordinator in each of the last four years, serving as the Co-DC at Army (2020-21), and the DC at Troy (2022), Tulane (2023), and of course Houston (2024).
“We’re excited to welcome Coach Wood and his family to our program,” Head Coach Joey McGuire said in a statement. “Coach Wood has a proven track record of immediately improving defenses and creating havoc with turnovers, which was exactly the philosophy we were looking for as we move forward as a program. We believe we have a strong, young nucleus defensively that is only going to improve under Coach Wood’s guidance.”
According to a release from TTU, Wood immediately improved a Houston defense that ranked 105th nationally for scoring (31.5) and 112th for total defense (423.9) in the year before his arrival, cutting those totals to 22.9 points and 324.8 yards per game in 2024.
At the end of the regular season, Houston currently ranks 26th nationally and second in the Big 12 in total defense and 28th in passing defense after surrendering only 188.8 yards per game through the air.
