Tuesday night, news leaked that UH defensive coordinator Shiel Wood would be resigning to take the same job at Texas Tech. Brad Towns and Ryan Monceaux discuss the move:
What are your first thoughts?
Brad Towns (Founder, Star Pizza Taste-Testing Consortium): I hate it, not because of what it does UH. He did a great job for UH this year and rebuilt a dead defense. However, coaches leaving happens every year, and I expect productive coaches to be approached yearly. Every school is susceptible to this, so UH isn’t unique.
Ryan Monceaux (Founder, GoCoogs.com): I liked watching Shiel in practice. He was almost like a drill sergeant, barking orders from the sideline and always in control. His players believed in him and respected him. To take another job? It’s unsurprising – this offense put too much pressure on the defense this season. A defensive coordinator expects his unit will be asked to win a game or two, but that’s not what UH was this year. The only way to win a game was with the defense.
With no certainty at QB, no offensive coordinator, and a contract extension dragging a little, it made sense that Wood listened.
Towns: What I hate is the fact that this is being done with less than 24 hours before signing day. These kids have been recruited for a year now. They have been through the full evaluation process, relationship building, and official/unofficial visits and have committed to this school and this coaching staff.
Monceaux: That sucks, for sure. This new signing day timeline is better for teams that play an early bowl game but worse for teams in conference title games or not in a bowl. But think about last year: Willie Fritz was hired on December 3. Signing a class the next day would be impossible.
Who knows if Tech pressured him to commit the day before signing day to keep their recruits? It does not appear any UH commits flipped to Tech.
Towns: Most of their commitments have been locked in since March, with most coming over the summer. These young men have been planning their lives around coming to UH, and many have planned on graduating early and enrolling for the spring semester.
Unfortunately, this is the dirty part of the game and this situation is not new. This has been going on for years and years all over the country. Coaches have proven that they will drop everything and jump at the next extra dollar they can get, no matter who they must climb over to get it. It drives me crazy hearing coaches complain about kids leaving in the portal. Coaches have coached them well, and they now have the opportunity to get that bigger, better deal.
Is Texas Tech a lateral move?
Towns: In title, yes. The part no one wants to hear is Texas Tech is a better program and has been for a number of years.
Monceaux: Is it a better program?
UH is 72-51 over the last 10 years and 31-28 over the last five. Tech is 61-62 over the last 10 years and 34-27 over the last five.
Tech has been a graveyard for defensive coordinators – 2005 was the last time they gave up fewer than 300 points (UH has done it seven times since 2005, including this season). In the last five seasons, Tech has averaged giving up 31 ppg (34.5 in 2024), while UH has surrendered 27.3 ppg in five years (22.9 this year).
But they have better support, better NIL, and the ability to score points. And we don’t know if UH was aggressive in extending Wood or if they slow-played this. And then there’s the money.
Towns: This will be a step up financially for him, and he will be going to a program that already has what UH is trying to build. They have a lot more fans in the stadium, a lot more resources, better facilities (although UH is catching up), and a significantly better NIL program. UH can get there, but it will take much more work and time.
Monceaux: Wood made $120,000 in 2019, then went to Army for two years (those numbers aren’t public). He moved to Troy in 2022 for $225,000, got more to go to Tulane, received $750,000 a year here, and likely $1M+ next year.
When your finances are surging year-over-year like his, I’m not sure you can call it a lateral move. Is it lateral for UH fans? Probably. For him? Probably not.