PROVO, Utah — BYU football head coach Kalani Sitake announced the hiring of TJ Woods on Thursday as offensive line coach and run game coordinator.
“TJ coaches his players the right way with great technique, fundamentals, toughness and has proven it in multiple places,” said Sitake. “He really loves his boys and helps them increase their football IQs while coaching them into consistent NFL Draft picks wherever he has been. I am looking forward to having him and his family with us.”
Woods arrives in Provo as a coaching veteran with more than 20 years of experience, including serving as the offensive line coach at Wisconsin, Oregon State, Utah State, Western Kentucky, UNLV and most recently at Georgia Southern for the 2023 season.
"TJ came highly recommended by multiple offensive coordinators and head coaches that he has worked for," said BYU offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick. "He is a terrific coach that comes here with a reputation as a great technician that has had success running the ball from many different offensive systems. TJ is also a relentless recruiter that has proven he can develop offensive linemen and prepare them for the NFL."
In one season with Georgia Southern, Woods coached two All-Sun Belt selections in first-teamer Khalil Crowder and second-team selection Rasheed Miller. Woods also had a freshman All-America honoree from The Athletic in center Chandler Strong.
While at UNLV from 2021 to 2022, the Rebels averaged nearly six more points per game after Woods was elevated to co-offensive coordinator in his second season. He mentored center Leif Fautanu to all-conference honors as the Rebels scored 18 rushing touchdowns and produced back-to-back 1,000-yard rushers, including Charles Williams who led the Mountain West Conference with 1,261 yards in 2021 and Aidan Robbins with 1,011 yards in 2022. Robbins finished third in the league in rushing before transferring to BYU in 2023.
Before UNLV, Woods was Utah State’s offensive line coach in 2019 when USU’s offense set school records in passes completed (315) and attempted (504), while its 3,628 passing yards are the second-most. Woods also coached at Utah State from 2009-12.
Woods spent the 2018 season as the line coach at Western Kentucky. Western Kentucky’s rushing yards per game improved by 75.98 yards per game, eighth-best nationally, and its yards per carry increased by 1.72, fifth-best nationally. WKU allowed 16 fewer sacks in 2018 as compared to 2017, the 10th-best improvement in the nation.
The move to WKU followed a three-year stint at Oregon State, where he coached four linemen to All-Pac-12 honors and saw two of his linemen—Sean Harlow (Atlanta Falcons 2017 fourth round) and Isaac Seumalo (Philadelphia Eagles 2016 third round)—drafted into the NFL. Under Woods’ direction, the Oregon State offense carried the ball for a school-record 5.2 yards per carry in 2016. Seven of his offensive linemen were named to the Pac-12 Conference All-Academic team during his time in Corvallis.
Prior to Oregon State, Woods served as the offensive line coach at Wisconsin, where his unit ran the ball for 320.14 yards per game in 2014, blocking for All-American running back Melvin Gordon when he won the Doak Walker Award and was a Heisman Trophy finalist. That season, Gordon rushed for 2,587 yards, second-most in a single season in FBS history, and set a then-FBS single-game rushing record with 408 yards.
Behind Woods’ offensive line, Gordon and fellow running back Corey Clement set the NCAA record for rushing by two backs with 3,536 yards. That 2014 season also saw the Badger offensive front set a school record for fewest sacks allowed with 13, as well as a school and Big Ten Conference record that still stands today with 4,482 net rushing yards.
In his first season with Wisconsin in 2013, the Badgers set a then-school record with 3,689 rushing yards to go along with a school-record 450.8 yards per game of total offense. With Woods’ offensive line leading the way, Gordon and fellow running back James White became the first running backs in NCAA history to each eclipse 1,400 rushing yards in the same season.
In all, Woods mentored seven All-Big Ten players at Wisconsin, including four All-Americans, highlighted by Rob Havenstein, who was selected by the Los Angeles Rams in the second round of the 2015 NFL Draft.
Before Wisconsin, Woods spent four years at Utah State, including the final two directing the offensive line. The Aggies rewrote the offensive record books by setting then-school records for total offense in consecutive seasons, concluding with 6,108 yards in 2012.
Woods coached five players to All-Western Athletic Conference honors, including Tyler Larsen and Philip Gapelu in 2011. Larsen, who earned second-team All-America honors as a senior in 2013, is now a 10-year NFL veteran having spent the past three years with the Washington Commanders.
A former player at Azusa Pacific (2001-02) as well as Iowa State and Citrus Junior College, where he earned NJCAA All-American honors in 1999, Woods got his coaching start as a graduate assistant at Azusa Pacific in 2003.
After a two-year run as the school’s tight ends coach, where he coached Ricky Burgan to NAIA All-American honors, he spent a season coaching the offensive line at Citrus before going to New Mexico for two seasons to serve as a graduate assistant on the offensive line. Lineman Eric Cook was drafted by the Washington Redskins in the seventh round of the 2010 NFL Draft, while Byron Bell was named a freshman All-American in 2008.
“My wife, Kelly, and I are excited to get back to our roots in Utah and join the BYU family,” said Woods. “It’s a program with such a rich history of tradition and success. We cherish the opportunity to work for such an outstanding person and football coach in Kalani Sitake and we are eager to get to work.”
Woods and his wife Kelly have two daughters, Madison and McKenzie. A 2002 graduate from Azusa Pacific with a business degree, Woods also earned his graduate degree in physical education from Azusa Pacific in 2005.