Rich Woods

Rich Woods was a highly successful football coach that had led three high schools to state championships at Vanden High School in Fairfield, California, Shasta High School in Redding, California and Juanita High School in Kirkland, Washington. He became the California State Small Schools “Coach of the Year in 1995 following the Vanden Vikings undefeated season of 13-0 that earned them the Sac-Joaquin Section 3A and CIF State 3A Football Championships. 

Coach Woods brought his winning culture to Deer Valley High School that had been highly successful in the smaller school divisions. He believed that, “Championship teams are not born, they are coached.”  He introduced the “Wolverine Creed” that required all players to make a commitment to the team before themselves, always wearing their black and teal jerseys with pride and dignity. He implemented “Fly T” offense that had been highly successful at his previous high school football programs. 

His winning ways had an immediate impact raising the bar of expectations for the Wolverines football program.  The Wolverines became one of the top rushing offenses in the region that led to their first BVAL football championship with an undefeated regular season record of 10-0 in 2006 and won their second BVAL football championship with another undefeated 10-0 season in 2009.  During Coach Woods’s tenure, the Wolverines qualified for the NCS Football Championships 6 seasons (2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013) with a winning percentage of 65% with a total record of 79 wins and 42 losses. 

Among the DVHS football championship teams were Taiwan Jones (Raiders/Bills), Sterling Moore (Patriots), De’Ondre Wesley (Ravens) and Nsimba Webster (Rams) who all played professional football in the National Football League.

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