Dan Wood
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| Dan Wood | ||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Daniel Phillip Wood | |
| Date of birth | May 21, 1946 | |
| Place of birth | Elmira, New York, United States | |
| Height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | |
| Teams managed | ||
| 1971-1975 1976 1977 1978-1980 1984 |
Cornell University Tacoma Tides Colorado Caribous Atlanta Chiefs Minnesota Strikers (assistant) |
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Daniel Phillip Wood (born May 21, 1946 in Elmira, New York) is a former collegiate and professional soccer coach. He was also a professional golfer who was the top money winner on the 1996 Senior Series.
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[edit] College athletics
An outstanding athlete, Wood grew up in New York and attended Lehigh University in Pennsylvania where he was a three sport (soccer, baseball and basketball) letterman. Following his graduation from Lehigh, he attended Tufts University from 1967-1968 where he earned his master’s degree in sociology. While at Tufts, he was also elected to Phi Beta Kappa and was magnu cum laude. Wood was also the captain of the Tuft’s 1968 baseball team. Cornell University then hired Wood as the school’s soccer and tennis coach.
[edit] Cornell
Over his five years as the Cornell Big Red coach, he took the soccer team to a 52-20-6 record and five NCAA post season appearances. In 1972, Cornell reached the NCAA Final Four where it fell to UCLA. Wood is also famous for recruiting future United States national team coach Bruce Arena, who was playing on the Big Red lacrosse team, into the men’s soccer team after injuries decimated the team’s goalkeeper corps. In December 1975, Wood resigned from Cornell to pursue a professional career.
[edit] Tacoma Tides
In 1976, Booth Gardner, owner of the expansion American Soccer League (ASL) franchise Tacoma Tides, hired Wood as the team’s first, and only, head coach. Despite being in its first year, Wood took the team to second place in the Western Division and a berth in the ASL semifinals where the team lost to the eventual champion Los Angeles Skyhawks.
[edit] NASL coach
When the Tides folded at the end of the 1976 season, Wood moved to the Colorado Caribous of the North American Soccer League (NASL). Wood was unable to replicate his success at Cornell and Tacoma as the Caribous went 8-22 and well out of playoff contention. During his time in Colorado, Wood as finished his doctorate in education from Cornell. At the end of the season, the team moved to Atlanta, Georgia, becoming the Atlanta Chiefs. Despite his lack of success with the Caribous, Wood was retained by the team management in the move and served for two years as the Chiefs’ head coach. In 1980, he brought David Chadwick, his former Tides assistant coach, in as a joint head coach. When Wood left the Chiefs at the end of the 1980 season, Chadwick replaced him as head coach. In 1984, Wood was the assistant head coach with the Minnesota Strikers.[1]
[edit] Oklahoma Wesleyan University
In 1987, Oklahoma Wesleyan University hired Wood as the school’s golf and soccer coach. He held that position until 1992, then again from 1996 to 1999. He was also the school’s Athletic Director from 1990-1992.[2]
[edit] Golf
Wood, who was an outstanding golfer through all his years as a coach, turned professional in 1980. He never made an impact on the PGA Tour, instead seeing his success come in the satellite tour and senior series. He tied for second in the 1988 North Florida PGA Section Championship. In 1996, he was the top money winner on the Senior Series and in 1998, he tied for seventh at the Senior PGA Championship.[3]
Wood has been inducted into both the Oklahoma Wesleyan University Hall of Fame and the Southern New York State Soccer Hall of Fame
