Wildcats hire Woodie as coach
Bethune-Cookman University named Raymond Woodie Jr. as its next football coach Monday.
Woodie, 49, returns to coach his alma mater after a career that’s included stops at the high school and college levels. The Florida native coached at Palmetto and Bayside high schools before jumping to Western Kentucky, South Florida, Oregon, Florida State and Florida Atlantic.
He was an All-American linebacker with the Wildcats from 1992-95.
“We are elated to have Raymond Woodie Jr. return to Bethune-Cookman University to lead our storied football program,” said B-CU athletics director Reggie Theus. “We are locked in the vision for providing a championship culture through his detailed plan for recruiting academically talented student-athletes, along with a sustained desire to provide a highlevel experience.”
Woodie’s arrival comes on the heels of a lot of uncertainty surrounding the football program.
B-CU fired former coach Terry Sims on Nov. 29 after seven seasons, including back-to-back 2-9 seasons with the Wildcats. The school offered the head coaching job to college and NFL Hall of Famer Ed Reed, who spent the past two seasons as an adviser for the Miami Hurricanes.
But social media posts by Reed, lamenting the state of the campus and the football offices, eventually led university officials to refuse to ratify his contract on Jan. 21.
Woodie’s name surfaced last week as a possible candidate before confirming the hiring on Friday.
“Bethune Cookman University is getting a man of God, and a leader of men,” said Willie Taggart, who hired Woodie as part of his coaching staff at WKU, USF, FSU, Oregon and FAU. “He is an outstanding recruiter and a coach that will get the best out of his student-athletes and staff, on and off the field. Raymond Jr. will make the Wildcat nation proud!”
The last time B-CU qualified for the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs was in 2013, with the Wildcats finishing tied for 1st in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference from 2012-15. The program left the MEAC, along with rival Florida A&M, to join the Southwestern Athletic Conference in 2021.