Bethune-Cookman University Director of Athletics Reggie Theus announced on February 6, 2023, the appointment of Raymond Woodie Jr. as Head Football Coach. Woodie, 49, became the 16th head coach of Bethune-Cookman Football.
Woodie, a four-year letterwinner as a linebacker and 1996 graduate of Bethune-Cookman College, took the helm of Wildcats Football following an impressive career as an assistant coach at numerous Power 5 schools including Florida Atlantic University (2020-22), Florida State University (2018-19), the University of Oregon (2017) and the University of South Florida (2013-16).
Woodie has been recognized as one of the premier recruiters in college football, serving as an assistant under Head Coach Willie Taggart across multiple coaching stops. He has recruited seven players that were eventually selected in the NFL Draft.
In his first season at the helm of B-CU football, Woodie orchestrated a defensive turnaround for the Wildcats. Led by All-SWAC first team corner Omari Hill-Robinson, the team finished the season second in all of FCS football in tackles for loss per game at 7.8. The Wildcats concluded the season as the most disciplined B-CU team in program history, averaging only 49 total penalties for an average of 35 penalty yards per game. Those marks shattered the previous program record of 64 total penalties and 53.5 penalty yards per game, set in 1988. Woodie’s Wildcats finished the 2023 season 3-1 at home.
Prior to joining B-CU, Woodie previosly served as Associate Head Coach at Florida Atlantic from 2020-2022, where he worked primarily with special teams and oversaw all aspects of recruiting in the role of recruiting coordinator for the Owls.
At FAU, Woodie tutored a linebacking corps that was part of a defense ranking among the top of NCAA and C-USA leaderboards in 2020. Under his guidance, the Owls totaled 25 sacks in just nine games, the most in C-USA and the 30th highest among all 2020 FBS teams. The unit allowed only 17.4 points per game, which was second in the league and 10th in the NCAA that season.
In the conference, the 2020 Owls ranked fourth in total defense and fifth in both rushing defense and passing defense. Following his success, Woodie was promoted to associate head coach and added special teams responsibilities in the offseason ahead of the 2021 season.
During the 2022 season, Woodie worked with a defense that ended the year ranked No. 8 in third-down conversion percentage, holding opponents to a mere 32 percent. His efforts with special teams also saw punter Matt Hayball flourish, posting an average of 45.7 yards per kick, which ranked the junior No. 16 nationally.
Woodie served on the Florida State staff from 2018-2019, primarily working with the linebackers.
In 2018, Woodie faced the challenge of a position group with only seven total starts among the entire linebacker corps. The group was led by Dontavious Jackson, who ranked second on the team with 75 tackles and became the first Seminole since 2001 to have multiple games with at least 14 tackles in the same season. Jackson, redshirt freshman DeCalon Brooks, sophomore Leonard Warner, and true freshman Jaiden Woodbey, who earned Freshman All-America honors while starting all 12 games at the STAR position, all displayed versatility.
This quartet filled the stat sheet with a combined 217 tackles, including 16.0 for loss, one interception, 14 pass breakups, 10 quarterback hurries, three forced fumbles, and one fumble recovery.
The Seminoles ranked second in the ACC and 20th in the NCAA, holding opponents to only 3.52 yards per rush. The run defense held nine of 12 opponents under their season yards-per-carry average, kept three teams from reaching 100 yards on the ground, and allowed only 16 rushing touchdowns, the fourth-lowest total in the conference.Additionally, the Seminoles ranked second in the ACC and 17th in the NCAA in fourth-down defense. They also ranked fifth in the conference in rushing defense, third-down defense, and passes intercepted.
During the 2017 season, Woodie served as the outside linebackers coach and special teams coordinator for the Oregon Ducks. During that season, he orchestrated a nearly perfect kicking game, with Oregon finishing the season 63-of-63 on PAT attempts and 9-of-12 on field goals. Additionally, the team’s average of 22.73 yards per kickoff return ranked third in the Pac-12.
Under Woodie’s guidance, long snapper Tanner Carew earned First Team All-America honors from Phil Steele and was invited to the Senior Bowl, while freshman Brenden Schooler was a First Team All-Pac-12 selection as an all-purpose/special teams player. Kicker Adrian Schneider broke Oregon’s school record with 51 career made field goals
On defense, Woodie’s outside linebackers made significant contributions to a unit that ranked 23rd in the country with 25 turnovers forced, 22nd with an average of 7.2 tackles for loss per game, and 24th in rushing defense, allowing just 128.5 yards per game on the ground. The team’s total defense improved its national ranking from 126th in 2016 to 46th in 2017.
During his time with Oregon, Woodie was named the No. 1 recruiter in the PAC-12, as well as No. 13 in the nation by 247 Sports. Woodie led the way in signing the American Athletic Conference’s top-ranked classes in 2014 and 2015, in addition to the top class in the Sun Belt Conference in 2010 and 2011. Woodie was named AAC Top Recruiter by Rivals in 2014, and Sun Belt Recruiter of the Year by Scout/FoxSports.com in 2012.
Prior to his time at Oregon, Woodie held the title of assistant head coach for two seasons as USF, including coordinating the Bulls’ defense during their record-breaking 2016 season. That year, the Bulls won a school-record 11 games, while the defense forced 26 turnovers to rank 18th in the country and returned three for touchdowns, tied for the 19th-highest total in the nation. He also oversaw the linebackers at USF, coaching two players to All-Conference recognition
In 2014, Nigel Harris led the country and broke a school record with six forced fumbles under Woodie’s guidance. He also tutored Reshard Cliett, the Houston Texans’ sixth-round selection in the 2015 NFL Draft, and helped DeDe Lattimore and Harris reach the NFL.
In 2015, Woodie was responsible for the Bulls’ special teams and coached the sixth-best kickoff return unit in the country, with USF finishing the year with a program-record average of 26.66 yards per return.
Kickoff returner Rodney Adams was a Second Team All-Conference selection after leading the American Athletic Conference and ranking sixth in the NCAA with an average of 29.1 yards per return. Adams was selected in the fifth round of the 2017 NFL Draft by the Minnesota Vikings.
Woodie’s first foray into college coaching came at Western Kentucky from 2012-2012. Woodie served two seasona as defensive ends coach, before hebwas promoted to linebackers coach for the 2012 season.
With WKU, he recruited Venice, Florida, native Forrest Lamp and Lakeland, Florida, native Andrew Jackson to Bowling Green. Lamp was a second-round pick by the Los Angeles Chargers in the 2017 NFL Draft and Jackson was selected in the sixth round of the 2014 NFL Draft by the Indianapolis Colts. They are two of seven Hilltoppers recruited by Woodie to play in the NFL.
Before entering college coaching, Woodie was a high school head coach in South Florida for 13 seasons
He was the head coach at Palmetto High School from 2007-09 and led the Tigers to a district title in 2008
From 1997-2006, Woodie was the head coach at Bayshore High School (following one season as the team’s defensive coordinator) and led the Bruins to the state playoffs seven times
When he took over as head coach he was only 23 years old, making him the youngest head coach in the state at the time.
In his time as a student-athlete at Bethune-Cookman, Woodie was a two-time Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) First Team Defense selection, as well as a two-time Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA) All-America selection. He was also the first Bethune-Cookman student-athlete to be named a GTE Academic All-American and have $25,000 donated to the University in his name.
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