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Sparky is a Star

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Spider's Club
Apr 8, 2008
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Siesta Key,FL
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Richmond assistant Sparky Woods is the former head coach at Appalachian State, South Carolina and VMI. JOE MAHONEY/TIMES-DISPATCH▲

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Spiders assistant Sparky Woods played for former Richmond coach Dal Shealy at Carson-Newman. JOE MAHONEY/TIMES-DISPATCH▲


BY JOHN O'CONNOR Richmond Times-Dispatch
5 hrs ago
Friday marked the 42nd time Sparky Woods walked onto a football field as a coach to start a preseason camp.

He is in his fourth season as an assistant at the University of Richmond, which is a considerable distance, geographically and otherwise, from the head coach's office at South Carolina, which Woods occupied from 1989-93.

“I know a lot of guys, when they get to be head coaches, they don’t see themselves coming back,” Woods, 64, said. “I don’t have any hobbies. I’m a bad golfer and don’t know how to fish.

“So this is what I like to do. I hope I can keep doing it.”

As head coach at Appalachian State 1984-88, Woods led the Mountaineers to great FCS achievements. Comparable success did not follow at South Carolina, or at VMI (2008-14), which last posted a winning record in 1981.

Former Richmond coach Danny Rocco respected what Woods did at VMI when Rocco led Liberty’s program and the Flames and Keydets regularly met in Big South Conference competition. So after Woods was asked to leave by VMI, Rocco invited Woods to UR. Russ Huesman succeeded Rocco in December of 2016, and retained Woods.

Richmond is the 12th school at which Woods has coached. He also spent a year on the New York Jets staff. Woods this season supervises Spiders’ running backs and helps organize special-teams operations.

“Coach Woods is an amazing man. I’ve worked with a lot of people in my 30-year career, but really nobody like him. He’s got so many stories and references,” said Jeff Durden, Richmond’s offensive coordinator. “With his positive attitude, he comes out here [to the practice field] like he’s 20 years old.”

Woods’ head-coaching experience is a big slice of his UR staff value, Rocco often said, and Durden echoed that position. Some assistants, mostly young ones, are quick to agree with their bosses and colleagues on football-related matters. Woods doesn’t play that way, and the balance he provides is extremely beneficial, in Durden's estimation.

Woods, a native of Oneida, Tenn., played quarterback and defensive back at Carson-Newman for Dal Shealy, Richmond’s coach 1980-88. Woods was a running high-school quarterback with an elevated football IQ when he met Shealy, who told The Times-Dispatch in 2009 he had no doubt Woods would become a coach.

In that respect, "He was like me," Shealy said.

Phillip Woods picked up the nickname Sparky from his father. Soon after Phillip was born, his father said, “Look at that little Sparky.” Since finishing his eligibility at Carson-Newman, Woods has coached football.

“You know what I’m doing? I’m doing exactly what I wanted to do when I was 18,” he said five minutes before Richmond’s first practice Friday. “This is what I’m supposed to do, I think
 
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