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Texas Tech football paid up to hire new DC Shiel Wood; contract terms, pay disclosed
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- Texas Tech football paid up to hire new DC Shiel Wood; contract terms, pay disclosed
New Texas Tech football defensive coordinator Shiel Wood is scheduled to make more than $3.96 million under terms of his contract, which started last week and runs through Jan. 31, 2028.
Wood will make $190,909 from Dec. 4 through Jan. 31. Then Tech plans to pay him $1.2 million, $1.25 million and $1.3 million, respectively, for the next three contract years. The breakdown on the latter three years consists of $300,000 annually in base salary and $900,000, $950,000 and $1 million, respectively, in rights fees for outside athletics-related income.
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Tech hired Wood from the University of Houston, where he was defensive coordinator for one season. Though the Cougars finished 4-8, Houston ranks No. 47 in the FBS in scoring defense, allowing 22.92 points per game, and No. 26 in total defense, yielding 324.8 yards per game. They're No. 28 in pass defense (188.8 ypg) and No. 43 in rushing defense (135.9 ypg). That's out of 133 FBS teams.
Texas Tech provided the contract Wednesday in response to the Avalanche-Journal's open-records request.
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Wood was making $750,000 this season at Houston, according to pay data maintained by USA TODAY Sports. Cougars' coach Willie Fritz said in a news conference last week Tech "seemed to have a little bit more resources than us right now."
"We would have liked for him to stay," Fritz said , "but it came down to a financial situation, and they were offering a heck of a lot more. It's something we cannot do right now, and obviously wish him and his family the very best."
The contract also allows for bonuses if the Red Raiders make the Big 12 championship game, a non-College Football Playoff bowl and the College Football Playoff. In addition, Tech agrees to pay up to $462,701 to cover Wood's buyout to Houston and $20,000 in moving expenses.
New Army football coaching hire Shiel Wood, formerly of Georgia State
Tech coach Joey McGuire dismissed defensive coordinator Tim DeRuyter on Dec. 1, naming Wood his replacement three days later.
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Tech fired DeRuyter with 14 months left on a three-year contract. He was scheduled to make $1.05 million this year and $1.1 million next year. Tech owes DeRuyter 70% of the remaining value of his contract, payable in monthly installments and offset by his earnings from any subsequent employment within the length of the contract.
Wood oversaw highly ranked defenses in 2021 at Army, in 2022 at Troy, in 2023 at Tulane and in 2024 at Houston. McGuire was impressed by how quickly he elevated defenses at previous stops.
"Just look at his numbers of, when he came in, what they were the year before he came in and (subsequent statistics and rankings)," McGuire said. "It's not just changing. It's a dramatic (improvement). It's going from the 100s to the 20s. That's something that as really important for us, what he can do for us."
Tech would owe Wood 70% of the remaining value of his contract should he be fired without cause, offset by subsequent earnings within the term of the deal. Should he leave on his own before the contract expires, he would owe Tech 20% of the remaining value of the deal. The latter stipulation is waived if Wood leaves for a head-coaching job in the NCAA or a coordinator position in the NFL.
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Wood, 42, grew up in Spartanburg, South Carolina, and played wide receiver at Wofford, his hometown college. After a year of high-school coaching, he returned to Wofford to coach wide receivers (2007-10) and safeties (2011-12 and 2016) before a promotion to defensive coordinator in 2017. In between, he spent three years as a stay-at-home father to accommodate his wife's medical residency.
He was a Georgia Tech assistant in 2018 and 2019 before going to Army in 2020.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Texas Tech football paid up for new DC Shiel Wood; contract disclosed
