Shiel Wood turned Texas Tech from a leaky Big 12 defense into a full-blown menace, landing as a Broyles Award finalist and powering a 12-win CFP run.
Texas Tech defensive coordinator Shiel Wood is no longer a rising name; he's fully arrived on the national stage.
The Red Raiders' star assistant has been named one of five finalists for the prestigious Broyles Award, given annually to the nation's top assistant coach.
Anyone who has watched Texas Tech this season knows why he belongs on that list. Wood has transformed the Red Raiders' defense from one of the Big 12's most vulnerable units into one of the most dominant groups in all of college football, and he did it in less than a year.
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Just one season ago, Texas Tech was surrendering 34.8 points and 460.2 yards per game. In 2025, those numbers have flipped dramatically.
The Red Raiders are now giving up just 10.9 points and 254.4 yards per outing, and they are marching into the College Football Playoff quarterfinal at the Orange Bowl.
Wood joins other top assistants - Bryant Haines of Indiana, Matt Patricia of Ohio State, Corey Hetherman of Miami, and Mike Bobo of Georgia - as a Broyles Award finalist, and he fits right in with that elite company.
The improvements are staggering.
Texas Tech owns the No. 1 rush defense in the FBS at just 68.5 yards allowed per game, a mark that would be the program's best since 1950. They also lead the nation with 31 takeaways and have held opponents to single digits in five of their last six games.
The front seven has been the engine of the resurgence, powered by All-Big 12 defensive linemen Lee Hunter and A.J. Holmes Jr., outside linebackers David Bailey and Romello Height, and inside linebackers Jacob Rodriguez, Ben Roberts, and John Curry.
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Their 34-7 dismantling of BYU in the Big 12 Championship set a new program record of 12 wins and locked in their Orange Bowl berth, where they will face either No. 5 Oregon or No. 12 James Madison.
What makes this season even more impressive is how complete Texas Tech has become.
The Red Raiders are the only team in the nation ranked in the top five in scoring defense, total defense, scoring offense, and total offense. Wood's defense and offensive coordinator Mack Leftwich's attack have meshed seamlessly, producing the most balanced team the Red Raiders have fielded in decades.
Wood’s rapid rise is not a fluke.
His 15 years of Division I coaching experience are filled with similar turnarounds. Since taking over as defensive coordinator at Army in 2021, every defense he has run - Army, Troy, Tulane, Houston, and now Texas Tech - has finished inside the top 35 nationally.
His resume includes a 12-win Sun Belt championship season at Troy in 2022, an 11-win American Athletic Conference championship appearance at Tulane in 2023, and a significant scoring-defense improvement at Houston in 2024.
His defenses consistently generate turnovers, averaging 22.3 takeaways per season over the past four years.
He has also coached 11 first-team all-conference players during that span, including Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Year Carlton Martial, who set the NCAA career tackles record under Wood's guidance.
A native of Spartanburg, South Carolina, Wood began his playing career as a wide receiver at Wofford before climbing the coaching ranks. He will learn whether he takes home the Broyles Award on February 12 at the 30th annual ceremony in Hot Springs, Arkansas.
Regardless of the outcome, Wood has cemented himself as one of the brightest coaching minds in the sport. With Texas Tech at 12-1, a conference champion, and a CFP quarterfinalist, his work has already reshaped the program ... and made him one of the hottest future head-coaching candidates in college football.