Bio

Holmes Community College has named Marcus Wood as the new head football coach effective Nov. 5.

Wood spent nine seasons on the East Mississippi football coaching staff. During this time, the Lions compiled a nine-year overall record of 87-12 (.879) and 51-3 (.944) division mark during his time on staff and claimed three NJCAA national championships, five MACJC state titles, eight North Division crowns and participated in five NJCAA bowl games winning all of those.

While serving as the Lions' Offensive Coordinator, Wide Receivers Coach, and Head Coach In Waiting, Wood was instrumental in directing EMCC's talent-laden offensive teams that annually rated among the NJCAA's highest-scoring units with an average of 50+ points per game. 

Wood comes to Holmes after serving as Executive Director of College Advancement and Athletics at East Mississippi Community College since January 2017. In this role, he worked with EMCC's alumni and foundation efforts and also worked directly with the athletic programs at EMCC.

Wood is no stranger to Holmes football serving as a volunteer coach during the 1996 season when the Bulldogs finished as state runners-up after winning the North Division.

Wood has 10 years in the Mississippi high school ranks where he served two years (2006-07) as head football coach at Gulfport High School. Prior to Gulfport, he coached three seasons at Columbia High School having three straight (2003-05) Class 3A state playoff appearances and Philadelphia High School, where he went to back-to-back (2001-02) state playoff berths. He was an assistant at Meridian for three years making the 5A playoffs each season and claimed a share of the 2000 Region 3-5A championship. At Columbia, he also served as the assistant powerlifting coach. At Philadelphia and Meridian, he was the assistant track coach.

A 1996 summa cum laude graduate in elementary education from Mississippi State University, Wood returned to his alma mater to complete his master's degree in sports administration while serving as a graduate assistant on Jackie Sherrill's MSU football coaching staff.

After volunteering at Holmes, he got his first full-time football coaching job on Hall of Famer Tom Goode's 1997 EMCC coaching staff as the Lions' running backs coach. 

Wood's initial stay on the Scooba Campus came as a two-year strong safety for Coach Goode's EMCC Lions. As a sophomore in 1993, he garnered MACJC All-State/North Division honors on the gridiron and NJCAA All-Academic accolades in the classroom. He was inducted into the EMCC Sports Hall of Fame in 2017.

After initially signing with Pennsylvania-based Bucknell University, out of the Patriot League, Wood concluded his collegiate playing career at Georgetown College in Kentucky.

He is a member of the Mississippi Association of Coaches, American Football Coaches Association, National Education Association and the Mississippi Association of Educators. Honors include: National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame, President's List, member of Phi Theta Kappa, Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society and Golden Key National Honor Society, summa cum laude graduate and MSU Student Teacher of the Year.

Wood has three sons – Marc, Parker and Will. Marc is an insurance agent with Farm Bureau in Desoto County. Parker played both soccer and baseball at Holmes but now is a member of the East Mississippi baseball team. Will is a senior at Southeast Lauderdale