Rattlers coach impressed during his tenure as a Hog
FAYETTEVILLE — Florida A&M is playing the Arkansas Razorbacks for the first time Thursday night, but Rattlers Coach Alex Wood has heard plenty of Hog calls.
Wood, 62, was an assistant coach at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville in 2006 and 2007 when the Razorbacks were a combined 18-9 and played in the Capital One Bowl and Cotton Bowl.
“I have great memories of Arkansas,” Wood said. “You go to a place and you stay for two years and you win and go to major bowl games and you play for a championship one of those years, I’ve got to say that’s pretty good.”
Wood was the Razorbacks’ quarterbacks coach in 2006 when they won the SEC West and finished 10-4. He was their wide receivers coach the next season when they went 8-5 and beat No. 1 LSU 50-48 in triple-overtime on the road.
“Alex did a really good job for us,” said Houston Nutt, the Arkansas coach from 1998-2007. “He’s a good teacher and has an excellent football mind.
“With what he’s done in the pros and college, the mixture of that I think is really impressive and helping him do some good things for Florida A&M.”
Wood came to Arkansas after being an NFL assistant coach for six seasons, including offensive coordinator with the Arizona Cardinals. His college stops included running backs coach at Miami, where he was on the staff of two national championship teams.
“Alex has a great resume,” Nutt said. “He’s got a lot of laps around the track at some great programs. He’s very detail-oriented and organized. Very calm and collected.”
Despite Arkansas’ success during Wood’s tenure, there was controversy. Offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn left after the 2006 season to take the same job at Tulsa; two of his stars at Springdale High School — quarterback Mitch Mustain and receiver Damian Williams — transferred to Southern California; and Nutt was forced out after the 2007 season.
Wood said he didn’t let what was happening around the program become a distraction.
“We just came to work every day and tried to put together good game plans and go out and recruit good players,” he said. “All the other stuff wasn’t really a big deal to me. I was just coaching. Houston was good to work with. I enjoyed my time there.”
Wood is in his third season at Florida A&M, a Football Championship Subdivision team in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference that opened with a 29-7 victory over Texas Southern on Saturday.
Florida A&M sophomore Ryan Stanley completed 19 of 32 passes for 217 yards
and rushed for a touchdown as the Rattlers didn’t have a turnover and outgained Texas Southern 415 yards to 202 yards.
“I think it was an allaround good showing on our part,” Wood said. “We’ve still got a lot to do, without question. We’re not where we want to be, but it was a good start for us.”
The Rattlers have the advantage of playing a game while Arkansas is opening the season, but it will be their second game in six days.
Adding to the degree of difficulty, Florida A&M is busing from Tallahassee to Little Rock on Wednesday rather than flying to save money from its $750,000 guarantee.
“Obviously, the bus ride and the time frame cuts into our preparation,” Wood said. “But hey, it is what it is.
“Whether it’s something that you like to do or not, teams do it all the time. They get off that bus and get stretched out and get ready to go.”
Wood said he expects a raucous crowd even on a
Thursday night.
“From my recollection, the Arkansas fans don’t care what night it is,” Wood said. “They just know the Razorbacks are playing, so I imagine they’ll be there at the game in full force supporting their football program.”
The Razorbacks have gone to bowl games the past three seasons under Coach Bret Bielema.
“I know they’re going to be physical,” Wood said. “They’re obviously going to be bigger than us, and they’ve got more people. They’ve got 85 and we’ve got 63, in terms of scholarships, so there’s a big difference.
“Not only that, you throw in that they’ve probably got some walk-ons that we might put on scholarship here.”
Wood said he’s not worried about the Rattlers being big underdogs.
“We’re just going to come out and play the very best we can,” he said. “If we do the things that we’ve been talking about — get lined up right and get our assignment right and finish on every play — we’ll be fine.”