JONESBORO — Casey Woods was all set to head off to Tulsa when his phone rang late in the summer of 2009.
Woods, a graduate assistant at the time, had a job set up to go to work under Tulsa offensive coordinator Herb Hand when the call came from Trooper Taylor, Auburn’s newly hired wide receivers coach.
“You need to come down and meet this coordinator,” said Woods, recalling what his former receivers coach at Tennessee told him in reference to Gus Malzahn. “That was that.”
It turned out to be good advice.
Over the next three seasons, Woods settled in with a homegrown offensive quality control staff under Malzahn that also included Arkansas natives Eli Drinkwitz and Rhett Lashlee.
Now, they are part of an under-30 core of assistants at Arkansas State serving as position coaches and coordinators for Malzahn, who is in his first season as the Red Wolves’ coach.
Woods is in charge of the wide receivers, with Drinkwitz coaching running backs and Lashlee serving as offensive coordinator for an ASU team that is 3-3 overall and 1-1 in the Sun Belt Conference heading into today’s 6 p.m. game against South Alabama (1-4, 0-1) at Liberty Bank Stadium.
“I didn’t have too many expectations for them,” Malzahn said of his young staff. “I just want us to get better each week. You’re going to learn stuff as you go.”
Malzahn’s ties with Lashlee and Drinkwitz go back to Malzahn’s high-school coaching days in Arkansas.
Lashlee was the second quarterback to run Malzahn’s hurry-up, no-huddle system at Shiloh Christian High School in Springdale, and Drinkwitz took over the reins running Malzahn’s offensive system at Springdale High School after Malzahn left to join Houston Nutt’s staff at Arkansas in 2006.
Out of 500 applications that came across his desk at Auburn, Drinkwitz was the first person Malzahn called.
But being in Malzahn’s favor didn’t spare any of them any of the grunt work down on The Plains.
Drinkwitz, 30, watched gobs of film, trying to break down opponents’ defensive tendencies. Woods helped grade film and produce film cut-ups for review, while Lashlee assisted by coaching outside receivers one year before helping out with the quarterbacks.
Their familiarity with everything Malzahn — his system, his recruiting preferences, his practice structure — made them ideal choices in spite of their relative youth.
Lashlee, 28, is in his second season as an offensive coordinator after implementing Malzahn’s offense last season at Samford, and his roots with Malzahn are obvious.
“It’s paying off every week as they grow with us,” ASU quarterback Ryan Aplin said. “He’s taught me not only about this system, but this game in general. ... There’s nobody better to learn this offense from.”
For Woods, 28, coaching receivers at ASU has been more of a day-to-day, hands-on task.
“Now you’re responsible for human beings,” Woods said. “That’s certainly less predictable than a computer is. I love that about the job.”
That doesn’t mean there haven’t been hiccups.
Against Memphis, a spate of special teams gaffes helped make a victory closer than it should have been. There also have been questions about a lack of vertical throws in the passing game and an absence of deep threat
All of that is just part of the process, Malzahn said.
“Even if we are familiar with each other, you have guys taking on new roles they haven’t had before,” Malzahn said. “There’s going to be a few growing pains, but we’re getting those cleaned up.”
THURSDAY’S GAME
W. Kentucky 31, Troy 26
TODAY’S GAMES All times Central
Middle Tennessee at Fla. International, 5 p.m.
S. Alabama at Arkansas St., 6 p.m.
Florida Atlantic at La.-Monroe, 7 p.m.
TUESDAY, OCT. 16
La.-Lafayette at North Texas, 8 p.m.
SATURDAY, OCT. 20
Fla. International at Troy, noon La.-Monroe at W. Kentucky, 3 p.m. Middle Tenn. at Mississippi St., 6 p.m. Florida Atlantic at South Alabama, TBA
Today’s game ARKANSAS ST. VS. S. ALABAMA
WHEN 6 p.m. Central WHERE Liberty Bank Stadium, Jonesboro RECORDS ASU: 3-3, 1-1 Sun Belt Conference; South Alabama: 2-3, 0-1 COACHES ASU: Gus Malzahn (3-3 in first season at ASU and overall); South Alabama: Joey Jones (25-7 in fourth season at South Alabama and 28-14 overall) SERIES First meeting RADIO KFIN-FM, 107.9, in Jonesboro; KKSP-FM, 93.3, in Bryant/Little Rock INTERNET astateredwolves.com, usajaguars.com
Sports, Pages 23 on 10/13/2012