Iowa Park looked to the college ranks, finding a very successful high school coach, to take over its football program.
On Tuesday, the Iowa Park CISD school board approved the hiring of Bryan Wood as the school’s 29th head football coach in program history.
Wood comes to Iowa Park after spending a year as co-offensive coordinator and running backs coach at Wayland Baptist University in Plainview. The Pioneers went 4-6 but averaged 34.5 points and 413.4 yards per game.
Before his brief stint at the college ranks, Wood spent 31 years coaching high school football, including 24 as a head football coach and athletic director, the same two roles he will hold at Iowa Park. In all, he has a 203-84 record, including stints at Rotan, Sunray, Pampa, Canyon Randall, Shallowater and Burnet.
His last foray in the high school ranks was at Burnet from 2021 to 2023, amassing a 15-17 record. However, his time there saw Burnet improve from 3-7 in 2021 to 8-4 and the program’s first district title in nine years in his final season in 2023.
Wood has claimed 11 district championships in 24 seasons and has a 19-11 postseason record. He led Sunray to the state semifinals twice, falling to Windthorst in 2003 and Seymour in 2007. He’s taken a team to the state quarterfinals on five other occasions.
Wood inherits the Iowa Park program from Michael Swenson, who left after four years leading the Hawks for an assistant athletic director position with Weatherford ISD. The Hawks were 16-27 under Swenson but made the playoffs each season. Two of those seasons, the Hawks were a win and a couple plays away from winning a district title.
However, the overall athletic program is thriving, headlined most recently with the boys basketball program making its deepest run in program history, advancing to the state semifinals.
This article originally appeared on Wichita Falls Times Record News: Iowa Park hires veteran head coach to the take over football program
