Dr. Eric A. Wood enters his 22nd year in intercollegiate athletics, his fifth at UCF, and fourth in the role of Deputy AD for Competitive Excellence in 2020-21. Wood, who joined the Knights in March of 2016, plays a prominent role in the strategic planning process and day-to-day administration of UCF’s 16-sport intercollegiate athletics program, assisting Athletics Director Danny White with key initiatives that impact overall competitive excellence in the classroom and on the respective playing fields as a member of his executive leadership team.
Wood, managing a portfolio of over $20 million for UCF Athletics, represents the department on the President’s Advisory Staff Council, serves as sport administrator for the football and men’s basketball programs, and has administrative oversight of the Varsity Knights alumni letter-winners organization, UCF Convocation Corporation management and revenue generation, Knights Sports Performance, the sport administrators group, the sports science and sports nutrition departments, compliance, academics and all internal units impacting the competitive success of UCF’s 450 student-athletes.
In 2019, College AD named Wood to its prestigious NEXT UP class, which honors senior-level administrators that have been handpicked by a panel of some of the most respected athletic directors in the industry. NEXT UP honorees are believed to be ready to take the next step as athletics directors and lead their own departments.
Wood assisted with the hiring of head football coach Josh Heupel in December of 2017, which has led continued success on the field for the Knights. The Knights have won a combined 22 games the last two seasons, enjoyed an undefeated regular season and an American Athletic Conference Championship in 2018, and have appeared in back-to-back bowl games, earning a bid to the PlayStation Fiesta Bowl following the 2018 season and winning the Bad Boy Mowers Gasparilla Bowl at the conclusion of the 2019 campaign.
Wood has also been instrumental in UCF’s recent success in men’s basketball, assisting with the hiring of Johnny Dawkins in March of 2016. In four seasons, the Knights have been taken to new heights, highlighted by the team’s 2019 trip to the NCAA Tournament, the program’s first since 2005. It marked UCF’s first at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament and the team earned its first NCAA Tournament victory, a first-round win over VCU. The Knights defeated multiple ranked teams for the first time in program history and cracked the Top 25 for themselves for the first time since 2011.
As the sport administrator for the men’s and women’s tennis programs, Wood assisted in the search that landed John Roddick as UCF’s Director of Tennis following three consecutive runner-up finishes at the National Championship as the head coach at Oklahoma. In Roddick’s first season, the Knights won four games over ranked opponents, earned the program’s first at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament since 2005 and finished the season ranked 33rd in the nation. The women’s tennis program has also enjoyed success as of late, earning back-to-back bids to the NCAA Tournament in 2018 and 2019, winning the American Athletic Conference title and reaching the NCAA Sweet 16 in 2019.
In 2016, Wood also reorganized the strength and conditioning department at UCF and rebranded it into Knights Sports Performance, separating the football and Olympic sports staffs. In 2018, he led the Sports Science Initiative, a partnership between UCF’s athletics department and The School of Kinesiology and Physical Therapy, appointing the founding Director of Applied Sports Science to enhance the well-being and performance of student-athletes. That same year, Wood provided leadership to the facilities and operations team responsible for the newly created Garvy Center for Student-Athlete Nutrition.
While UCF has been extremely successful in competition during Wood’s tenure, the department has been equally prolific in the classroom, where the most recent NCAA Academic Progress Rates showed a record setting 9-of-16 varsity programs earning perfect 1,000 single-year scores and an overall department rate of 985, qualifying the Knights for the NCAA Academic Based Revenue Distribution. Wood led the academics team that helped produce the top seven department-wide grade-point averages on record, including a record high of 3.33 department GPA and approximately 70% of student-athletes at or above a 3.0. The Knights have extended their streak of a 3.0 or better department-wide GPA to 25 straight semesters and have had seven consecutive semesters of at least a 3.2 average GPA.
A 2009 graduate of the NCAA’s Leadership Institute, Wood came to UCF after a 7-year stint at The University of Arkansas where in his final role, he was a member of the Razorbacks’ Executive Staff overseeing diversity initiatives, drug testing, conduct, housing and a staff of 30 in the Office of Student-Athlete Success. Wood added sport administrator duties with men’s golf and Deputy Title IX Coordinator duties in 2014. He was pivotal on both the design team and development efforts for the $23 million Jerry and Gene Jones Student-Athlete Success Center, a facility that was spearheaded by a $10.8 million gift. While with the Razorbacks, Wood was named Top 40 under 40 in the Arkansas Business Journal in 2016.
The Bronx, New York native also served in a variety of roles within athletics administration dating back to 1998 at Clemson University, the NCAA national office, University of New Haven, Wake Forest University and the Atlantic Coast Conference office.
Wood is a 1998 graduate of Sacred Heart University, earning his degree in Psychology. He was a three-year starter at cornerback for the Pioneer football team with one outdoor season as a member of the track & field team. Wood earned a Medal of Merit, the athletic department’s highest honor, as the student-athlete of the year his senior year. He completed his master’s degree in counseling and guidance services at Clemson University in May 2000 and his Doctorate of Education in Sports Management at the University of Arkansas in 2016.
Dr. Wood and his wife Celia have four children – Eliana (10), Nia (8), Alyssa (6) and Elijah (4).
