The University of Mississippi Athletics
Staff Directory
Wood, EdD, Eric A.
Eric A. Wood, EdD
- Title:
- Senior Deputy A.D./External Relations and Business Development
- Email:
- Phone:
- 662-915-7546
Dr. Eric A. Wood joined the Ole Miss Athletics department in January 2024, currently serving as the Rebels’ Senior Deputy Athletics Director/External Relations and Business Development.
Wood arrived in Oxford after more than three successful seasons as Vice President and Director of Athletics at Louisiana Tech. His 24-year career in collegiate athletics also includes stops at UCF, Arkansas, the Atlantic Coast Conference, Wake Forest, New Haven, the NCAA and Clemson.
Under Wood’s guidance, LA Tech was the only Division I school in the country to have won a conference regular-season title in baseball, softball, men’s basketball and women’s basketball within the two-year span of 2021-22. The Bulldog and Lady Techster basketball teams also made it to the Conference USA Championship game in 2022, marking just the eighth time in C-USA history a school has had both programs advance to the finals, while the baseball squad captured the league’s tournament crown that season.
Other team highlights during Wood’s tenure include the seventh straight bowl appearance by Bulldog Football, back-to-back-to-back NCAA Regional appearances by the bowling program, Bulldog Basketball’s run to the 2021 NIT Final Four, individual NCAA postseason qualifiers in track & field and golf, and back-to-back NCAA Regional appearances by Bulldog Baseball (including the first ever host of an NCAA Regional in 2021).
LA Tech also had plenty of champions in the classroom with numerous academic records broken during Wood's time as AD.
On the fundraising front, the University totaled nearly $20 million received in Athletics under Wood, including $6.18 million for FY23. A primary reason for the increase in commitments was due to the Aug. 1, 2022 launch of the Aillet Society, the first-ever major giving society with five-year commitments of $25,000 or more. In its first year, 60 shareholders across seven states joined the Aillet Society with the median gift being $50,000.
The Louisiana Tech Athletic Club (LTAC) continued to thrive as well in FY23 with a record 1,550 total donors, a 45 percent increase from FY22. LA Tech Athletics also felt the fundraising impact on University Giving Day on April 20, 2023, which ended with a record-setting $1.8M from 177 donors. The staff within LA Tech Athletics continued to play a role in philanthropic support with 100 percent giving among full-time employees all three years with Wood as AD.
Wood put those many six and seven-figure commitments made by individual donors toward capital projects that supported the Bulldog and Lady Techster student-athletes. The University opened brand new facilities in J.C. Love Field at Pat Patterson Park, Dr. Billy Bundrick Softball Field, Robert Mack Caruthers Soccer Field, Origin Bank Soccer and Softball Complex, and additional support facilities that totaled in excess of $40 million in new athletics facility construction.
The capital projects also include the construction of the Sarah and A.L. Williams Champions Plaza, which honors the most highly-decorated LA Tech student-athletes. Funded by $20 million raised by Wood and his team, the plaza is part of a revamped north end zone project at Joe Aillet Stadium that will feature a new Student-Athlete Success Center and the largest video board in the state of Louisiana.
All of those momentum-building moments led to exponential growth in the brand as well through social media and the official athletics website LATechSports.com. There was a 17.1 percent increase in followers across all social media platforms with half of the accounts generating at least a 15 percent growth in followers. The redesigned website saw its most web traffic ever with record highs in page views (3.06 million), sessions (1.34 million), and users (780,000+) in 2021-22.
A Bronx, New York, native, Wood boasts a decorated track record and has held a variety of leadership roles in organizations serving the college athletics industry. Most recently, he was appointed to the Division I NCAA Football Oversight Committee and to the Division I Council as well as being named Chair of the Football Success Committee.
Prior to making Ruston his home, Wood spent more than two decades serving within athletics administration. In addition to his time at UCF, he has held full-time positions at the University of Arkansas, the Atlantic Coast Conference, Wake Forest University and the University of New Haven. He also served as a postgraduate intern at the NCAA national office and a graduate assistant at Clemson University early in his career.
At every level of his professional career, Wood has made an impact. His qualifications and accomplishments include:
In his time in Fayetteville, Wood served as the Associate Athletics Director, Deputy Title IX Coordinator/Diversity Coordinator (2011-16) as well as the Assistant Athletics Director for Student-Athlete Development (2009-11).
Wood was the Director of Student-Athlete Programs and Compliance at the ACC (2005-09) following a stint as the Assistant Director for Compliance at Wake Forest (2004-05). He began his full-time collegiate athletic administration career as the Assistant AD for Compliance and Student Development at the University of New Haven (2003-04).
He 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 and field team.
Wood earned a Medal of Merit, the athletic department’s highest honor, as the Student-Athlete of the Year his senior year at Sacred Heart. 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.
Wood and his wife Celia have four children – Eliana, Nia, Alyssa, and Elijah.
Wood arrived in Oxford after more than three successful seasons as Vice President and Director of Athletics at Louisiana Tech. His 24-year career in collegiate athletics also includes stops at UCF, Arkansas, the Atlantic Coast Conference, Wake Forest, New Haven, the NCAA and Clemson.
Under Wood’s guidance, LA Tech was the only Division I school in the country to have won a conference regular-season title in baseball, softball, men’s basketball and women’s basketball within the two-year span of 2021-22. The Bulldog and Lady Techster basketball teams also made it to the Conference USA Championship game in 2022, marking just the eighth time in C-USA history a school has had both programs advance to the finals, while the baseball squad captured the league’s tournament crown that season.
Other team highlights during Wood’s tenure include the seventh straight bowl appearance by Bulldog Football, back-to-back-to-back NCAA Regional appearances by the bowling program, Bulldog Basketball’s run to the 2021 NIT Final Four, individual NCAA postseason qualifiers in track & field and golf, and back-to-back NCAA Regional appearances by Bulldog Baseball (including the first ever host of an NCAA Regional in 2021).
LA Tech also had plenty of champions in the classroom with numerous academic records broken during Wood's time as AD.
- 987 single-year APR average and 981 multi-year APR average
- 230 student-athletes named to the C-USA Commissioner’s Honor Roll (2021-22)
- 75 student-athletes receiving the C-USA Commissioner’s Academic Medal (2021-22)
- 8 programs recording a perfect 1,000 single-year APR score (2021-22 and 2020-21)
On the fundraising front, the University totaled nearly $20 million received in Athletics under Wood, including $6.18 million for FY23. A primary reason for the increase in commitments was due to the Aug. 1, 2022 launch of the Aillet Society, the first-ever major giving society with five-year commitments of $25,000 or more. In its first year, 60 shareholders across seven states joined the Aillet Society with the median gift being $50,000.
The Louisiana Tech Athletic Club (LTAC) continued to thrive as well in FY23 with a record 1,550 total donors, a 45 percent increase from FY22. LA Tech Athletics also felt the fundraising impact on University Giving Day on April 20, 2023, which ended with a record-setting $1.8M from 177 donors. The staff within LA Tech Athletics continued to play a role in philanthropic support with 100 percent giving among full-time employees all three years with Wood as AD.
Wood put those many six and seven-figure commitments made by individual donors toward capital projects that supported the Bulldog and Lady Techster student-athletes. The University opened brand new facilities in J.C. Love Field at Pat Patterson Park, Dr. Billy Bundrick Softball Field, Robert Mack Caruthers Soccer Field, Origin Bank Soccer and Softball Complex, and additional support facilities that totaled in excess of $40 million in new athletics facility construction.
The capital projects also include the construction of the Sarah and A.L. Williams Champions Plaza, which honors the most highly-decorated LA Tech student-athletes. Funded by $20 million raised by Wood and his team, the plaza is part of a revamped north end zone project at Joe Aillet Stadium that will feature a new Student-Athlete Success Center and the largest video board in the state of Louisiana.
All of those momentum-building moments led to exponential growth in the brand as well through social media and the official athletics website LATechSports.com. There was a 17.1 percent increase in followers across all social media platforms with half of the accounts generating at least a 15 percent growth in followers. The redesigned website saw its most web traffic ever with record highs in page views (3.06 million), sessions (1.34 million), and users (780,000+) in 2021-22.
A Bronx, New York, native, Wood boasts a decorated track record and has held a variety of leadership roles in organizations serving the college athletics industry. Most recently, he was appointed to the Division I NCAA Football Oversight Committee and to the Division I Council as well as being named Chair of the Football Success Committee.
Prior to making Ruston his home, Wood spent more than two decades serving within athletics administration. In addition to his time at UCF, he has held full-time positions at the University of Arkansas, the Atlantic Coast Conference, Wake Forest University and the University of New Haven. He also served as a postgraduate intern at the NCAA national office and a graduate assistant at Clemson University early in his career.
At every level of his professional career, Wood has made an impact. His qualifications and accomplishments include:
- Sacred Heart University Board of Trustees
- Head coach hires in football (Sonny Cumbie), men’s basketball (Talvin Hester), softball (2022 CUSA Coach of the Year Josh Taylor), track and field (Brian Johnson), soccer (Steve Voltz), and tennis (Amy Sargeant)
- 2020-21 University of Arkansas Outstanding Alumni of the Year-College of Health, Human Performance & Recreation
- 2019 “Next Up” honoree presented by Adidas and College AD for senior level administrators
- Athletics Representative on the UCF Presidents Advisory Staff Council
- 2016 Top 40 Under 40 in the Arkansas Business Journal
- 2009 graduate of the NCAA’s Leadership Institute
- NCAA, NLI, Division I-A Athletics Director’s Association (Now Lead1), USTA committee service
- 1994-1998 NCAA football student-athlete
- 1998 Medal of Merit recipient as student-athlete of the Year
In his time in Fayetteville, Wood served as the Associate Athletics Director, Deputy Title IX Coordinator/Diversity Coordinator (2011-16) as well as the Assistant Athletics Director for Student-Athlete Development (2009-11).
Wood was the Director of Student-Athlete Programs and Compliance at the ACC (2005-09) following a stint as the Assistant Director for Compliance at Wake Forest (2004-05). He began his full-time collegiate athletic administration career as the Assistant AD for Compliance and Student Development at the University of New Haven (2003-04).
He 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 and field team.
Wood earned a Medal of Merit, the athletic department’s highest honor, as the Student-Athlete of the Year his senior year at Sacred Heart. 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.
Wood and his wife Celia have four children – Eliana, Nia, Alyssa, and Elijah.
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