He grew up in West Texas, mostly in and around Abilene spending most of his childhood picking cotton to help support his family.
He misinterpreted the "fight" chants at the pep rally, and during the game, he spent most of his time beating up the opponent he was supposed to block.
The next year Wood won the opening game over his old coaching grounds at Spur, but finished the season with only three wins, three losses, and two ties.
After two years, Coach Wood finished his first head-coaching job at Rule with a record of five wins, eleven losses, and two ties.
The following fall, while on furlough for a few weeks, Wood was asked to fill in as head football coach at Haskell High School where he is credited with one win.
Because he was a schoolteacher before the war, the Navy allowed Wood to discharge early when he found a job as the principal at Roscoe, Texas High School.
At Roscoe, Wood taught three math courses, drove the school bus, and coached football, basketball, and track.
In his first year coaching at Roscoe, Wood took his team through an undefeated season and won the district championship only to lose the first game in the state playoffs.
At Winters, Coach Wood's football team went 6–4 in 1950, but the poor condition of the gym and neglect from the school board caused him to resign after only one season.
In 1954, Wood had another winning season when Stamford won nine games, but a loss to Colorado City kept them out of the district championship and the state playoffs.
This time Stamford went undefeated in the playoffs ending their season with a 34 to 7 victory over Hillsboro to claim the state championship.
The Stamford Bulldogs went undefeated again in 1956, earning Coach Wood back-to-back state championships and extending the team's winning streak to 32 games.
A second loss to the Seymour Panthers shut out Stamford's hopes for another district title and another shot at the state crown.
The Lions scored one playoff victory before losing to Dumas 36–18 in the state quarterfinals and ending the season with eleven wins and one loss.
1963 produced a winning season for Brownwood, but two losses to Stephenville and Wichita Falls Rider kept them out of the state finals.
A tie with Graham and two losses to Cleburne and Wichita Falls Hirschi left Brownwood players sitting at home for another playoff series.
Coach Wood's team won fourteen games to claim the district title and their second state championship without a loss on their record.
Southall led the team at quarterback to eight victories, but losses to Abilene Cooper and Vernon cost Brownwood another shot at the playoffs.
This time Coach Wood's Lions defeated the Leopards to secure another district title, but Brownwood lost the first game of the playoffs to Lubbock Estacado 49–0, ending their season with nine wins and three losses.
After losing the opening game to Abilene Cooper, Brownwood claimed victories over twelve opponents and won another district title.
Coach Wood led the team to their sixth state championship with an undefeated record of fifteen wins.
The Lions suffered a second loss to San Angelo Lake View, but Coach Wood was able to scratch nine more wins on his record to claim the district title.
After the regular season, Wood's Lions won the opening round of the playoffs against Wichita Falls Hirschi, but lost to Lubbock Estacado 14 to 0 in the quarterfinals.
Although his team lost to San Angelo Central and another loss to Cleburne (9–3 at TCU's Amon G. Carter Stadium, est attendance of 38,000 fans) cost the Lions their district crown the UIL passed a new rule in 1982, which allowed two teams from each district to advance to the state playoffs.
Wood took the Lions to six more wins in 1984, but losses to Cleburne, Abilene Cooper, and Everman, and a tie with the Killeen Kangaroos left Brownwood in third place in their conference.
Brownwood defeated Mineral Wells in the first playoff game, but lost to Lubbock Estacado 29 to 28[citation needed] in the quarterfinals.
Former Dallas Cowboys' head coach, Bill Parcells, once told the story of how Wood drove five hours each day for weeks just to watch his Texas Tech linebackers practice.
Baylor's former head coach, Grant Teaff, said that Wood once spent the night in his film room just to ask how a particular play had been run.
Over the years, Wood developed several medical conditions including skin tumors, artificial hips, a stroke, and having triple bypass surgery in 1990.
[5] On top of setting the record for most wins in the twentieth century, Coach Wood has received numerous other awards and accomplishments.