Iowa Park looked to the college ranks, finding a very successful high school coach to take over its football program.
On Tuesday, the Iowa Park CISD school board unanimously approved the hiring of Bryan Wood as athletic director and as the school’s 29th head football coach in program history after a closed session that lasted around 2½ hours.
“Just knowing the name Iowa Park — the history and the present of the athletic program’s success, the basketball team making it to the state semifinals this year — I’ve known about Iowa Park for a long time,” Wood said. “Coach Weldon Nelms, I’ve known him and know what he was able to do with this program all those years ago. I talked to him about it. I’ve done my homework on Iowa Park to know it’s a great place to be.”
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Wood was one of more than 60 applicants for Iowa Park’s head football coaching and athletic director position. In all, five coaches were interviewed with Wood emerging as the lone finalist.
“In any small community, hiring an athletic director is going to impact more than just the students, it impacts the entire community,” Iowa Park Superintendent Kevin McCasland said. “The meeting was so long because it was a chance for the school board to get to know him and learn what kind of coach and man that he is as well as what type of culture he will bring to the program.
“We came away believing that Coach Wood is the right fit.”
Wood comes to Iowa Park after spending a year as co-offensive coordinator and running backs coach at Wayland Baptist University in Plainview. The Pioneers went 4-6 but averaged 34.5 points and 413.4 yards per game.
But in his heart, Wood knows he’s a high school football coach.
“It was kind of a timing deal with when I was leaving Burnet and trying to get my defensive coordinator the job there,” Wood said. “I saw the Wayland job open and thought it might be a good time to try that. It was a great experience, but I feel like I’m a high school guy. I’m a program guy, and I want to be in charge.
“Iowa Park is a great opportunity to do what I’ve done most of my life.”
Before his brief stint at the college ranks, Wood spent 31 years coaching high school football, including 24 as a head football coach and athletic director, the same two roles he will hold at Iowa Park. In all, he has a 203-84 record, including stints at Rotan, Sunray, Pampa, Canyon Randall, Shallowater and Burnet.
His last foray in the high school ranks was at Burnet from 2021 to 2023, amassing a 15-17 record. However, his time there saw Burnet improve from 3-7 in 2021 to 8-4 and the program’s first district title in nine years in his final season in 2023.
Wood has claimed 11 district championships in 24 seasons and has a 19-11 postseason record. He led Sunray to the state semifinals twice, falling to Windthorst in 2003 and Seymour in 2007. He’s taken a team to the state quarterfinals on five other occasions.
Wood inherits the Iowa Park program from Michael Swenson, who left after four years leading the Hawks for an assistant athletic director position with Weatherford ISD. The Hawks were 16-27 under Swenson but made the playoffs each season. Two of those seasons, the Hawks were a win and a couple plays away from winning a district title.
The product on the field may not look too different from what Iowa Park has done in recent seasons with Wood preferring a power spread offensive concept, trying to control the ball for as long as possible.
But beyond the gridiron, Wood plans to keep the overall athletic program thriving.
“If you don’t care about an overall athletic program, then you don’t need to be doing this job,” Wood said. “Success breeds success. What I heard during this meeting is my challenge is to make the football team better, and I know we got programs that are doing really well. I want all of them to be good.
“I want to see Iowa Park’s name in those Lone Star Cup standings at the end of the year.”
This article originally appeared on Wichita Falls Times Record News: Iowa Park tabs veteran head coach to take over football program
Reporting by Jonathan Hull, Wichita Falls Times Record News / Wichita Falls Times Record News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
