LeVar Woods on First Weeks at MSU, Special Teams Philosophy
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EAST LANSING, Mich. -- The biggest splash hire from Pat Fitzgerald this offseason was LeVar Woods.
That label doesn't come by "special teams coordinator" often, but it works here at Michigan State. Woods previously held that position at Iowa, consistently having the Hawkeyes' special teams units among the nation's best.
Fitzgerald is paying him like it, too -- Woods has a three-year, $3.6 million deal that makes him one of the highest-paid special teams coaches in college football. Woods also got the title of assistant head coach.
"The reason I ended up taking this position was opportunity," Woods said Tuesday. "I felt like going with Coach Pat Fitzgerald, he's a proven winner in the conference, a guy that I believe in... You guys [in the media] have gotten a chance to be around him, and he's very energetic, right? It's an opportunity to learn from someone else and continue to coach for someone else."
Woods had been coaching under Kirk Ferentz for eons in coaching years. He played for Ferentz when he started at Iowa, and after playing in the NFL from 2001-07, he joined the Hawkeyes' staff in 2008. Woods had been in Iowa City ever since. MSU will be the first college program, besides Iowa, that Woods has ever worked for.
Special Teams Philosophy
Don't be surprised if starters are out there playing special teams, either. Some programs play a lot of younger players on special teams to get them on the field, perhaps also worrying that a starter could get hurt if he's playing on the punt return team. Woods and the Spartans aren't going to compromise there.
"I think all across the board, we're going to try to play the best players, and to help this football team," Woods said. "And the guys have bought in. I've been very pleasantly surprised with the buy-in from players. Again, one [Nikai Martinez] is sitting behind you, who's also a starter on defense."
New Era at MSU
"I think we're just trying to see who can help, where they can help, how much, how many phases, how many plays, all those kinds of things. We'll sort through that throughout training camp. But philosophically, we wanna play the best players."
That doesn't necessarily mean that you're guaranteed to be seeing Michigan State's top receivers playing gunner or all the starting offensive linemen protecting punter Rhys Dakin, who followed Woods to MSU from Iowa. There's still a bit of a happy medium where Woods hopes to see "the middle part" of the roster contributing.
"If you get the middle of your roster to the point where they're all contributing, man, your team is much better," Woods said.
Special teams was the major difference in the Spartans' game against the Hawkeyes in 2025. It also at least partially cost Michigan State the game at Nebraska. The hope certainly is that Fitzgerald's significant investment in Woods helps flip the results of games like those.
Full Press Conference Video:
A 2025 graduate from Michigan State University, Cotsonika brings a wealth of experience covering the Spartans from Rivals and On3 to his role as Michigan State Spartans Beat Writer on SI. At Michigan State, he was also a member of the world-renowned Spartan marching band for two seasons.
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