Since no student-athlete is assigned to #92 on the spring roster, today we will highlight another assistant coach:
Justin Hood
Position: Assistant Coach / OLBs
Alma Mater: Ashland University
Graduated: 2008
Justin Hood joined the WCU defensive coaching staff in March of 2018. Hood, who has over a decade of experience at all three division of collegiate football as a player and a coach, oversees the Catamount outside linebackers.
Hood joined the WCU staff from FCS-member, Davidson, joining the Wildcats in March of 2016 as the safeties coach and recruiting coordinator. After his first year, he was promoted to defensive pass game coordinator, while continuing to work with the defensive backs as well as kick punt returners.
In December 2017, Hood served as the Interim Head Football Coach for the Wildcats program.
Prior to Davidson, Hood served as defensive coordinator at Capital University in Bexley, Ohio, where he spent two seasons as defensive coordinator. He also specialized in coaching the secondary for the Crusaders, as well as the punt return unit.
In his first season, Hood placed one of his student-athletes on the all-conference team when safety Jimmy Curtis was named to honorable mention status. Under his tutelage, Curtis led the Crusaders in tackles (59), interceptions (3), passes defended (8), and forced fumbles (4). Capital, as a team, finished seventh in the country with 15 total fumble recoveries in 2014.
Before arriving in Columbus, Ga., Hood served as a graduate assistant at the University of Illinois, a position he held for nearly two years under former WCU assistant coach, Tim Beckman. He worked with the cornerbacks and also had responsibilities in scouting, film breakdown and coaching the scout offense and special teams.
Prior to Illinois, Hood worked in two different positions at the University of Oregon. During the 2011-12 season, he was an intern working with the offense and in quality control. Hood assisted in coaching running backs, evaluated high school and junior college running back prospects and communicated defensive coverage on game days. From 2010-11, he was a recruiting administrative assistant, working in all phases of recruiting. During his two seasons, the Ducks won back-to-back Pac-12 championships, finished as the national runner-up in 2011, and won the Rose Bowl in 2012.
Hood's resume also includes time as the Bill Walsh Intern with the New York Giants in August of 2013, assisting in coaching the running backs and managing the scout special teams.
A four-year starter, Hood was a two-year captain at Ashland University, an NCAA Division II school in Ohio. A defensive back, he was named second-team All-Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference in 2007. He graduated from Ashland with a bachelor's degree in marketing in 2008 before earning his master's at Illinois in education policy and leadership in 2013.
Hood and his wife, Sarah, reside in Sylva, N.C.
Courtesy WCU Athletics Media Relations
