Following a 10-year NFL playing career,
Tony Woods joined the William Paterson staff as the defensive line coach in 2013.
The 18th overall selection of the 1987 NFL Draft, Woods spent six years as a member of the Seattle Seahawks (1987-92) before moving on to the Los Angeles Rams (1993) and the Washington Redskins (1994-96), starting 125 of his 145 career games. He was a first-team all-American at defensive end for the University of Pittsburgh in 1986, still ranking among the program’s sack leaders, and was a 1983 all-America and all-state honoree as well as the New Jersey Player of the Year at Seton Hall Prep.
Woods, who coached 2013 and 2014 second-team all-New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) selection Pat Thomas as well as 2015 honorable-mention pick Omar Mahmoud, was the defensive line coach at Seton Hall Prep in 2012, and the defensive line coach and defensive coordinator at Weequahic High School (2011). From 2002-10, he filled the same two roles at Newark’s West Side High School, helping to lead the 2007 Rough Riders to their first state title in 80 years.
Woods completed a bachelor’s in communications at Pittsburgh in 2013, and he and his wife, Clemmen, have four children.