South Carolina tight ends coach Jody Wright will take over the head coaching position at Murray State. Wright spent two years with South Carolina and the Racers’ job will mark his first time as a head coach.
Wright is familiar with the FCS level having played collegiately at Jacksonville State and he started his coaching career at JSU as a student assistant from 2002 through 2004. Wright moved to Mississippi State from 2005 through 2009 as a graduate assistant and took over football operations for the 2009 season. Wright then joined Alabama as a graduate assistant in 2010 and became an offensive analyst for the 2011 and 2012 seasons.
Wright returned to JSU in 2013 to serve as the tight ends coach as well as the passing game and recruiting coordinator duties. The Gamecocks went 11-4 with a quarterfinal appearance in the 2013 FCS Playoffs. In 2014, he was the assistant head coach and running backs coach at UAB. He returned to Alabama for three years from 2015 through 2017 to be the Director of Player Personnel. After another year at UAB in 2018 as the assistant head coach, Wright spent three years in the NFL. He worked with the Cleveland Browns in 2019 and New York Giants in 2020 and 2021.
Wright will take over for Dean Hood who stepped down after four years in charge of Murray State. Hood went 15-25 overall as the Racers moved from the Ohio Valley Conference to the Missouri Valley Football Conference in 2023. Wright’s first game in 2014 will fittingly be versus an SEC opponent. Murray State will play at Missouri on Saturday, August 31.
Photo Credit to Murray State University Athletics
