Bethune-Cookman set to hire Raymond Woodie Jr. as head football coach, source confirms

DAYTONA BEACH — Bethune-Cookman reportedly has its new head football coach. Again.

The university is finalizing a deal with Raymond Woodie Jr., a B-CU graduate and longtime DI assistant, a source close to the situation confirmed to the News-Journal Thursday. The contract is subject to approval from the board of trustees but is expected to become official in the next 24 hours.

Woodie himself announced the move on Facebook and Twitter Thursday afternoon. He deleted the Tweet less than an hour later, but the Facebook post remained online.

“Grateful, thankful and blessed to announce that I will be returning to my alma mater to serve as the next head football coach at Bethune-Cookman University,” Woodie posted. “I look forward to bringing a winning culture back to the city. Winning on and off the field are my top priorities for our team. I know we have work to do, and I hope that Wildcat Nation will be behind us!"

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Woodie’s arrival would seem to end two-plus months of uncertainty for the football program. The news comes just a day after interim university president Lawrence Drake said the Wildcats would hire a coach within the week.

After former head coach Terry Sims was released on Nov. 29, Bethune-Cookman endured a four-week search process before entering into an agreement in principle with Pro Football Hall of Famer Ed Reed on Dec. 27. After Reed released a profanity-laced video criticizing the conditions of the school's facilities and his office, the university declined to ratify Reed’s contract.

Woodie had contacted Bethune-Cookman and expressed interest in the position before Reed took the job. He starred as a linebacker and safety for the Wildcats from 1992-1995. In his final two collegiate seasons, he was a I-AA All-American and earned First-Team All-MEAC honors.

He began his coaching career at the high school level and spent 13 seasons as coach at Bayshore High School and Palmetto High School in Florida. In 2010, he joined Willie Taggart’s staff at Western Kentucky University as a defensive assistant.

Sticking with Taggart, Woodie made stops at South Florida, Oregon, Florida State and most recently Florida Atlantic, establishing a reputation as an ace recruiter. In 2017, 247Sports ranked him as the top recruiter in the Pac-12 Conference. The following season, it slotted him as the second-best recruiter in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

His three-year stint as associate head coach, outside linebackers coach and recruiting coordinator at FAU concluded in November when Taggart was let go as the program’s head coach.

At Bethune-Cookman, Woodie inherits a program that went 2-9 each of the past two seasons.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Raymond Woodie will be Bethune-Cookman football coach, source says