Former Purdue star Woodson enjoying life as NFL assistant
Rod Woodson never would have thought he’d get into coaching following his Hall of Fame career.
Yet, here he is; the former Boilermaker is entering his fourth (non-consecutive) season as an Oakland assistant coach. This season, he’ll be the Raiders’ cornerbacks coach.
“It is a great industry,” said Woodson Sunday afternoon, when he was at Purdue for the Tiller Chapter NFF dinner, where he was honored for his induction into the Indiana Football Hall of Fame. “God put me in coaching for a reason. I learned a lot of good things from my 17 years of playing football, a lot of good coaches with a lot of good players, and I have fun giving back to the players. As long as they’ll keep me in it, I’ll stay in it. If not, I’ll move in a different direction.”
But Oakland is treating him well right now. The former Purdue All-America safety — he played in West Lafayette from 1983-86 — has had several stints in Oakland following his career as an analyst on the NFL Network. But this latest stay probably is the most secure, with Jack Del Rio’s Raiders having won 12 games last season.
“We’re telling our guys it’s a process,” he said. “Just because we were 12-4 last year doesn’t mean we’re going to be 12-4 again. We have to believe in the process, keep working, and every time we set on the field, we have to work to get something done, get something accomplished. If we can do that, we know we’re moving in the right direction.”
Woodson has made a couple trips back to Purdue in the last year, having gotten to campus in the fall and the one-day trip for the Tiller Chapter NFF dinner. There, several were honored, including Roosevelt Barnes and Caleb Swanigan with the Drew Brees Mental Toughness Award, although the two aren’t present due to the NBA Draft workout schedule.
Also, the Chapter named its Scholar-Athlete of the Year, picking a finalist from a group of several area high school football players.
Woodson, who was recently inducted into the Collegiate Hall of Fame and now the Indiana Hall, says he’s humbled each time he’s recognized.
And coaching gives him a chance to still be part of the game, even if it’s in a field he never would have expected.
"(I thought) I would never coach because of the timetable and the way they work, it’s something I wouldn’t do,” he said. “I didn’t want to do it. But a lot of times, when you say something like that, it’s where God puts you. He’s (pushing) me in some capacity for some reason. I really enjoy it, though. When you can give something to the guys throughout the week, then when that green light clicks on, like it did for me, when I played, and you’re like, ‘Yeah, here we go. He’s starting to see it.’ And that’s what you like to see.”
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