Gordon Wood (American Football Coach) - Roscoe, Seminole, and Winters

Roscoe, Seminole, and Winters

Because he was a schoolteacher before the war, the Navy allowed Wood to discharge early when he found a job as the principal at Roscoe, Texas High School. At Roscoe, Wood taught three math courses, drove the school bus, and coached football, basketball, and track. While coaching at Roscoe, Coach Wood started using his legendary winged-T offensive formation for the football team. In his first year coaching at Roscoe, Wood took his team through an undefeated season and won the district championship only to lose the first game in the state playoffs. The next year, Roscoe lost the opening game of the season, but it was two ties in district play that cost them the district title and kept them out of the 1946 playoffs. Coach Wood ended his career at Roscoe with sixteen wins, two losses, and two ties.

In 1947, Coach Wood followed Roscoe's superintendent to become Seminole, Texas High School's head coach. Seminole offered better pay, a larger high school, and a less stressful job. Coach Wood was no longer a principal, had no math courses to teach, and was helped by three assistants. It was at Seminole that Coach Wood first hired Morris Southall to be his assistant coach. The two became lifelong friends and coached together for thirty-one years. In 1947, Seminole won the district championship with nine wins and one loss but lost the first game of the state playoffs. The next season the football team went 6-3-1, followed by a 4-4-2 season in 1949. After the 1949 season, Coach Wood resigned as head coach, leaving Seminole with nineteen wins, nine losses, and three ties. Coach Southall took over as head coach at Seminole, while Coach Wood moved on to Winters High School. At Winters, Coach Wood's football team went 6-4 in 1950, but the poor condition of the gym and neglect from the school board caused him to resign after only one season.