Casey Woods was also previously a tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator at Mizzou. (Photo by Mizzou Athletics)

On the day the Missouri State made history in the school’s first College Football Bowl appearance against Arkansas State, SMU offensive coordinator Casey Woods was named the next head coach of the Bears following the departure of former coach Ryan Beard. ESPN Peter Thamel reported that the school reached a 5-year deal with Woods on Friday, December 19th. Woods is no stranger to the state of Missouri. Before arriving at SMU, Woods earned experience in the state of Missouri, serving as the Tigers’ tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator from 2020-21. While a recruiting coordinator at Mizzou, he landed a top 10 national recruiting class in his final year on Missouri Tiger coach Eli Drinkwitz’s staff.

 Casey Woods was a former Tennessee wide receiver and held other previous positions in the coaching industry, including a graduate assistant at Tennessee (2009). He spent time as offensive quality control coach at Auburn (2010-11), wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator at Arkansas State (2012), director of player personnel at Auburn (2013-15), and run game coordinator, tight ends coach, and recruiting coordinator at UAB (2017-19).

After spending one season at Mizzou, Woods became the offensive coordinator of the SMU Mustangs and led the Mustangs’ offense for the past four seasons, including the 2024 team that reached the ACC title game and College Football Playoff. SMU finished 8-4, and early this season, he led the SMU Mustangs offense to a 28-10 win over Missouri State at Plaster Stadium in Springfield in September. Missouri State is set for a rematch against SMU next season in a return game, on Sept. 26 contest at Ford Stadium in Dallas. This will also be Wood’s first head coaching job in a major College Football Bowl Subdivision.