CB Woods ready for more in year two with West Virginia

Charles Woods has always carried a chip on his shoulder.

Woods, a former wide receiver at Justin F. Kimball High School, didn’t pass the eye test to play at major college football programs standing around 5-foot-10, 150-pounds.

“It was a chip on my shoulder to prove everybody wrong that I could play with the best and the elite in college so that’s all I wanted to do was play with the best,” he said.

So, the Dallas native enrolled at Illinois State where he made the move to cornerback where he played 26 games, staring 18 of those while earning FCS all-American honors in the process. That success led him to getting the opportunity he had always longed for at the power five level at West Virginia.

Woods appeared in 11 games during his first season between cornerback and safety racking up 31 tackles, two tackles for loss, two interceptions, four pass breakups and two fumble recoveries. He didn’t take off until later in the year and made his presence known in a major way against TCU.

In that contest, Woods had 5 tackles, an interception and a fumble recovery and became a centerpiece to the secondary for the remainder of the season. The jump was a challenge at first, but once Woods realized that it’s the same game with the exception of more elite athletes the transition was easier.

Once he elected to come back for another year, Woods was thrust even further up the totem pole due to departures at the position to the portal.

Now in his second year with the program, and having wrapped up his first off-season after sitting out last year as he was in the transfer process, Woods is more confident than ever in his abilities.

“Just really me being an older guy, I pretty much know the scheme it’s bringing on the young guys in the room and making sure they’re up to par,” he said.

The game has slowed down quite a bit for Woods, which actually started to occur last season. He is one of the best returning outside cornerbacks in all of the league according to PFF and has a better understanding of what is being asked out of him from a technique standpoint.

That has been showing up in practice where Woods has been a consistent threat of interceptions.

“Doing what my coaches asked me to do is allowing me to make big plays,” he said.

Woods is well versed in man coverage and has the versatility to play multiple spots. It’s something that he considers as a great tool in his belt but it’s given him a better understanding of the defense as well as what is being asked out of various spots in the scheme.

Woods has tried to mimic what he sees out of players at the professional level such as Jalen Ramsey and Marcus Lattimore as a ball-hawking defensive back that is aggressive and competes every down.

“You have to have a toolbox where you have multiple techniques. You can’t play everybody one way because we’re at a level where guys will pick up on your technique and find a way to beat it,” he said. “Having a toolbox and having multiple ways to play your assignment is good.”

And it's something his coaches have taken notice of as well.

"Charles Woods is the best corner in the Big 12 in my opinion," position coach ShaDon Brown said. "Charles is really steady, sometimes practice is really easy for him because he's confident. I always say knowledge equals confidence which equals playing fast and he's got it. He's improved his body, he's improved his conditioning and I think he can cover anybody in the country."

Woods is approaching this season with a next play mentality and will use what he has learned at this stage in order to become a leader for this team in the back end.

“I’m not perfect. If I do lose a rep, find out why I lost that rep and try not to repeat that mistake,” he said.

----------

• Talk about it with West Virginia fans on The Blue Lot.

• SUBSCRIBE today to stay up on the latest on Mountaineer sports and recruiting.

• Get all of our WVU videos on YouTube by subscribing to the WVSports.com Channel

• Follow us on Twitter: @WVSportsDotCom, @rivalskeenan

•Like us on Facebook