Jay Hood Promoted to Football's Defensive Coordinator
February 17, 2010 | Football
Jay Hood, who spent the 2009 season as the defensive ends coach for the Ball State University football team, has been promoted to defensive coordinator for the Cardinals, according to Ball State head coach Stan Parrish.
"Jay Hood is an outstanding young coach who is very deserving of this promotion," Parrish says. "He is a tireless worker with a great attention to detail, but even more so is his outstanding ability to relate to the student-athletes in our program. Coach Hood has the ability to get the most out of our football players. His experience as a defensive coordinator at Miami University and helping them to two Mid-American Conference East Division Championships was a key factor in us hiring him at Ball State a year ago. We are looking forward to the continuity this promotion brings to the Ball State football family."
Entering his 25th year as a football coach, Hood moves into the defensive coordinator position which became open with the retirement of Doug Graber earlier this month.
A 1986 graduate of Ohio Wesleyan, Hood began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Bowling Green in 1986 and 1987. From 1988-93, Hood was an assistant coach at Mesa State and Fort Hays State before serving as the head coach at Mesa State -- an NCAA Division II program in Colorado -- from 1994-97. From 1998-2004, Hood served stints as an assistant coach at Millikin and Fort Hays State.
In 2003, Hood became an assistant coach at Miami University, and spent the 2008 season as the associate head coach and defensive coordinator for the RedHawks. He helped Miami's defense to lead the MAC in six different categories in 2007 plus helped the program to the 2005 MAC East Division Co-Championship and the 2007 MAC East Division title.
"I want to thank Coach Parrish and Ball State University for this opportunity," Hood says. "My wife and I are excited and looking forward to continuing our time in the community. This is an outstanding university with a great football tradition, and the defensive staff is ready to build a championship level defense of which the fans can be proud. We are ready for spring football to begin in March as we continue preparations for the 2010 season."
A native of Defiance, Ohio, Hood is married to the former Renee Schmidt. He graduated from Ada High School in Ada, Ohio, before becoming a three-time football team captain at Ohio Wesleyan. Hood was inducted into Ohio Wesleyan's Hall of Fame in 2004. His father, Wally Hood, was a head coach at Ohio Northern, Otterbein and Fairmont State.