Jahad Woods continues his impact in Pullman, joins Washington State coaching staff

Good afternoon, Coug fans!

It was reported today that one of our favorite former Washington State players, Jahad Woods, would be heading back home! Woods joins the WSU coaching staff as a Defensive High School Scout.

Essentially, what he’ll be responsible for is finding talent, looking specifically for things like power, arm length, flexibility, technique, quickness off the ball, and diagnostic skills for game adjustment. Woods was a needle in a haystack in terms of not being heavily recruited himself, so we trust he’ll have a good eye for similar (potentially overlooked) talent elsewhere.

Some other potential duties of the job would be instructing recruits on the fundamentals of the game, evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of recruits, and help them improve so they’re ready for competition. These skills are incredibly important, especially for a younger coach to demonstrate, and it’s clear this offer to join the staff in a more solid leadership position is only a reflection of the leader Woods was while being a part of the team itself as an athlete.

Jahad Woods had, without a doubt, one of the most fun careers to watch at Washington State. In case you forgot, he racked up nearly 430 career tackles, the 4th most in school history, led the Cougs in tackles in both 2019 and 2021, tied Justus Rodgers for most games played, and more. He had 36.5 career tackles-for-loss, which is the 7th most in program history, set the program record for 10 career forced fumbles, was a 4-time All-Pac-12 Conference player, and was a team captain (listed) in 2020 and 2021.

As a personal anecdote, he’s definitely one of my favorite Cougs of all time, and I couldn't be more excited for him to don the Crimson and Gray again! Congratulations, Jahad!