CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — College football lifer Sparky Woods is leaving the North Carolina football coaching staff to pursue other opportunities, coach Mack Brown confirmed Tuesday.
Woods, 70, has served in a senior advisor to the head coach role with the Tar Heels since January 2019. He’s a veteran of more than 40 years in college coaching, a long career that has included head coaching stops at Appalachian State (1984-88), South Carolina (1989-93) and VMI (2008-14).
“We want to thank Sparky for his hard work over the last five years,” Brown told Inside Carolina. “He brought a wealth of knowledge and experience to our staff from his years of coaching. We appreciate all of his hard work and wish him the best as he moves on to the next chapter of his career.”
Earlier Tuesday, Brown announced the hiring of former UNC All-American linebacker Brian Simmons as a senior advisor to the head coach and pro liaison. Simmons, a 10-year NFL veteran and later a scout in the NFL for eight years, will take over senior advisor duties for the 75-year-old Darrell Moody, another college coaching lifer, who’s retiring.
Prior to reuniting with Brown in Chapel Hill, Woods coached running backs and was the co-special teams coordinator at Richmond. He has been the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Mississippi State (1999-2002), Virginia (1997-98), Memphis (1995-96) and App State (1983).
Woods is a 1976 graduate of Carson-Newman, where he played quarterback and defensive back. He began his coaching career at Tennessee later that year. In 1977, he moved to Kansas before making a stop as defensive backs coach at North Alabama in 1978.
From 1979-82, he coached at Iowa State, overseeing the receivers, before joining Appalachian State in 1983 as offensive coordinator, quarterbacks and running backs coach under Brown. One year later, Woods was named head coach at Appalachian State when Brown departed to become the offensive coordinator at Oklahoma.
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