Sherman Wood ’84 completed his 26th season at the helm of the Salisbury University football team in 2024. Wood has coached football since 1984 and led the Salisbury football team since 1999.
Honors/Accomplishments as Head Coach
- Program’s all-time winningest coach – 193 wins
- 20 Postseason Appearances
- 18 consecutive postseason appearances (2004-22)
- 11 NCAA Championship Tournament Appearances (2002, 2004, 2007, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2024)
- 10 ECAC Bowl Game Appearances
- Six ECAC Bowl Championships (2005, 2006, 2008, 2013, 2014, 2016)
- 10 Conference Championships
- Six New Jersey Athletic Conference Championship (2015, 2019, Spring 2021, 2021, 2022, 2024)
- Two Empire 8 Championships (2011, 2012)
- Two Atlantic Central Football Conference Championships (2004, 2005)
- Seven Conference Coach of the Year Awards (2004, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019, 2021, 2024)
- 2024 American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Coach of the Year
- 2024 American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Region Coach of the Year
- 2011 American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Region Coach of the Year
- 19 D3football.com All-Americans
- 10 AFCA All-Americans
- 44 D3football.com All-Region Players
- 18 Conference Players of the Year
- Five Conference Rookies of the Year
- 331 All-Conference Selections
- 127 All-NJAC (2015-present)
- 46 All-Empire 8 (2011-14)
- 158 All-ACFC (1998-2010)
- 364 Academic All-Conference Honorees since 2006
- Alex Potocko became Salisbury’s first back-to-back CSC First Team Academic All-American (2016-17)
- Caleb Brubaker named CSC Second Team Academic All-American (2022)
- 12 CSC Academic All-District recipients
- Octavion Wilson named the Mayo Clinic Comeback Player of the Year in 2019
Notable Games as Head Coach
- Oct. 16, 2010 – Wood earns 100th career win with a 45-21 victory over Huntingdon
- Nov. 26, 2011 – A 49-47 triple-OT victory over Kean to advance to the NCAA quarterfinals for the first time in 25 years
- Nov. 16, 2013 – 70-14 win over Frostburg St., most points scored in the Regents Cup
- Sept. 26, 2015 – 91-7 win over Southern Va., most points scored and largest margin of victory in program history
- Nov. 14, 2015 – 28-27 comeback win over Frostburg St. to continue the longest consecutive win streak (12) in Regents Cup history and win the program’s first NJAC Championship
- Nov. 20, 2016 – Winning an ECAC Championship for the third time in four years with a 52-20 win over Carnegie Mellon in historic Franklin Field in Philadelphia
- Nov. 23, 2019 - Salisbury defeated SUNY-Maritime 83-0 in the first round of the 2019 NCAA Tournament. It is the largest margin of victory in the history of the Division III tournament.
- Nov. 12, 2022 - Salisbury defeated Christopher Newport, 36-33, in a de facto NJAC Championship Game to win its fourth straight conference title
- Oct. 21, 2023 - Wood earns 200th career win with a 35-20 victory at Rowan, becoming just the 12th active head coach across all NCAA divisions to win 200 games as a head coach
Playing Career
Wood was a standout defensive back for the Sea Gulls from 1980-83. He finished his career with seven career interceptions, including two returned for touchdowns. He was a starter and team captain on the 1983 team that earned Salisbury’s first-ever NCAA tournament berth and advanced to the national semifinals. Wood earned all-state defensive back honors by The Baltimore Sun and recognition as a Street & Smith All-American during his career.
Coaching Career prior to Salisbury
Wood began his coaching career as a volunteer assistant under legendary head coach Mike McGlinchey in 1984 and became a graduate assistant coach for the Sea Gulls in 1985. Wood moved on to Division II Bowie State as a graduate assistant coach in 1986, coaching the defensive backs and special teams. He remained on the staff for Bowie State until 1992, where he served as graduate assistant from 1986-88 and the assistant head coach and defensive coordinator from 1989-92.
Wood, along with the rest of the 1988 Bowie State football team, were inducted into the Bowie State University Sports Hall of Fame in 2024. The 1988 Bulldogs were the first HBCU to ever qualify for the NCAA Division II Football Tournament.
Wood became the assistant head coach for a year at Virginia Union University in 1992. A year later, Wood was named the head coach at Bowie State. In six seasons at Bowie State, he turned around a program that went 1-10 in 1992 to a 6-3 record in 1998, which was the best season in over 10 years.
Personal
Originally from Norfolk, Va., Wood is a member of the American Football Coaches Association and served on its All-America Selection Committee, Rules Committees, Summer Manual Committee, Top 25 Committee, and the Minority Issues Committee. In 2006, Wood was honored with the Friend of Education Award presented at the Wicomico County Teacher of the Year Banquet. Coach Wood has been a recipient of the Fritz Pollard Award in 2011, 12, and 13.
Wood is a speaker at numerous sports clinics and has involved himself with a variety of local organizations. Wood currently is involved with Sunrise Rotary and has served on these community service committees: the Wicomico Youth Mentor Program, Horizons Program of the Salisbury School, Kids of Honor, the Salisbury Promise Program, SU Football Youth Mentor Program, Operation Teddy Bear and Salvation Army Youth Leadership Training.
He earned his undergraduate degree from Salisbury in 1984. In 1989, Wood received his Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology from Bowie State in 1989.
Wood and his wife Tonya have one daughter, Sherece.
Recruiting Territories
Maryland (Prince Georges, Baltimore City), Tidewater Virginia, Pennsylvania, Washington D.C.
Coach Wood's Record at SU
Year Record Conf. Highlight
1999 2-7 2-4 (ACFC)
2000 5-5 3-3 (ACFC)
2001 4-6 1-2 (ACFC)
2002 9-2 2-1 (ACFC) NCAA Tournament appearance
2003 7-2 2-1 (ACFC)
2004 10-1 5-0 (ACFC) NCAA Tournament appearance, ACFC Champions
2005 8-3 4-1 (ACFC) ECAC Southeast Bowl Champions, ACFC Champions
2006 6-5 2-2 (ACFC) ECAC South Atlantic Bowl Champions
2007 9-2 3-1 (ACFC) NCAA Tournament appearance
2008 9-2 2-1 (ACFC) ECAC Southwest Bowl Champions
2009 5-6 2-1 (ACFC) ECAC Southwest Bowl appearance
2010 7-3 2-1 (ACFC) NCAA Tournament appearance
2011 11-2 7-0 (E8) NCAA Quarterfinal appearance
2012 9-3 6-1 (E8) NCAA Tournament Second Round appearance
2013 7-4 5-2 (E8) ECAC South Atlantic Bowl Champions
2014 7-4 5-3 (E8) ECAC South Atlantic Bowl Champions
2015 7-3 7-1 (NJAC) NCAA Tournament First Round appearance
2016 8-3 6-3 (NJAC) ECAC South Atlantic Bowl Champions
2017 7-4 7-2 (NJAC) ECAC Scotty Whitelaw Bowl appearance
2018 8-3 7-2 (NJAC) ECAC Asa A. Bushnell Bowl appearance
2019 11-1 7-0 (NJAC) NCAA Tournament Quarterfinalists
SP 2021 2-0 2-0 (NJAC)
2021 8-2 6-0 (NJAC) NCAA Tournament appearance
2022 9-2 6-0 (NJAC) NCAA Tournament appearance
2023 6-4 4-2 (NJAC)
2024 12-1 6-0 (NJAC) NCAA Tournament Quarterfinalists
| Total: |
193-80 (.70.7)
(26 seasons) |
30-18 (ACFC)
23-6 (E8)
58-10 (NJAC)
|
11 NCAA Tournament appearances
2 ACFC Championships
2 Empire 8 Championships
6 NJAC Championships
5 ECAC Bowl Championships
|
Last updated: 2/11/24
