Woods Looking to Make Impact as Terps Open Camp
8/8/2016 12:00:00 AM | Football, Terrapin Athletics
By: Lily Blum – Media Relations Student Assistant
Under the leadership of first-year head coach DJ Durkin, the 2016 Maryland football team took to the field for its first practice of fall camp on Monday.
Since his arrival to College Park, Durkin has repeatedly stated that all starting jobs will be won during fall camp and nothing was promised to anyone.
For junior defensive back Josh Woods, the chance to compete for a starting spot means everything.
On the first day of camp during Woods' freshman season, he found himself lined up defending Terps star wide receiver Stefon Diggs. It was a big jump from his days at McDonough High School, playing primarily on the offensive side of the ball.
“He is scoring touchdowns in the NFL now and that was who I was lining up against as a freshman,” said Woods. “It was eye opening and made me work harder from day one.”
Prior to coming to Maryland, Woods had only played three games on the defensive side of the ball.
Fast-forward two years and Woods is preparing for his junior season playing safety here in College Park. After Maryland had three players selected in the 2016 NFL Draft on the defensive side of the ball, Woods is competing for a starting spot and is hoping for a breakout season.
“I would definitely like to be starting post fall camp,” said Woods. “I have been doing extra runs and extra workouts to prepare myself.”
Although Woods has many personal goals for the season, he believes the most important goal is a team one - to win.
“Coach Durkin said the first day he got here, 'we are here to win championships,' and everybody wants to win championships,” explained Woods. “There is no doubt in my mind that we can contend with anybody in our conference, and this is a pretty tough conference. I know that with the way coaches are training us now, we will be able to rumble with the best.”
Woods relishes the chance to work with Terps' defensive coaches as he still considers himself relatively new to the safety position and wants to be a sponge absorbing information from coaches that have been extremely successful.
“I think that the coaches are excellent teachers,” said Woods. “It is not just like 'okay at safety you have to do this', it's more like 'you have to do this because you are this part to this puzzle'. They explain all 11 roles for every play. It puts you in a better defensive mindset especially coming from high school having only played offense.”
The past two years Woods has been earning his stripes, playing primarily on special teams. Woods knew he could go one of two ways while attempting to earn more playing time – go through the motions or work harder to get on the field. Obviously, Woods chose the latter.
“I definitely worked harder,” said Woods. “I would always ask Will [Likely] 'can we do some extra stuff, can you help me with this, and can we study film?'”
Woods also turned to guys like Sean Davis when he became frustrated with his lack of playing time.
“He told me 'just wait, your time is going to come and when the opportunity comes, take advantage of it',” explained Woods. “They were definitely right. As of right now I feel like the opportunity is here and I definitely can take advantage of it.”
Now an upperclassmen, Woods is also prepared to step up and be a leader and mentor for the younger players on the team.
“I know how to help other guys based off the way I have been helped,” said Woods. “I wouldn't shy away from being a leader at all. I feel that I can help our young guys both on and off the field getting acclimated to how we do things around here.”
As for Woods' relationship with Diggs, he said “I still text him to this day asking him questions about how to be that leader and how to stay on top of my game.” The coaches hope whatever advice Diggs is offering in those texts will pay dividends for Woods and the Terps this fall.
-Terps-
