Drake head coach Joe Woodley is expected to take an assistant role on Rutgers’s revamped defensive staff, according to a report from ESPN on Monday.

Woodley was an FCS head coach for only a season. His Rutgers hiring represents a swift rise from the NAIA to the Big Ten, with what turned out to be a brief stop at the FCS level. 

A former Iowa State linebacker, Woodley spent 2008-24 at Grand View University, an NAIA school in Des Moines, Iowa. He served as the defensive and then offensive coordinator under his father, Mike, and then succeeded him as Grand View’s head coach in 2019. And succeed Woodley did, going 72-5 in six seasons with the Vikings. Grand View reached at least the NAIA quarterfinals all six seasons, the championship game twice, and won it all in 2024. Woodley’s teams never lost a regular season game in his six seasons with the program, and he was the inaugural FootballScoop NAIA Coordinator of the Year for his work with the Vikings’ defense. 

Rutgers is in dire need of help on the defensive side of the ball. The Scarlet Knights finished 136th of 136 FBS teams with 7.6 yards per play allowed, and tied for 117th at 31.8 points per game allowed. Rutgers went 5-7 in 2025, and is 31-41 since 2020 under Schiano. 

Sources: Rutgers is set to hire Drake head coach Joe Woodley as an assistant coach on the defensive staff. Prior to Drake, Woodley won an NAIA championship at Grand View, where he went 72-5 as head coach and didn’t lose a regular season game. pic.twitter.com/HaMsNK76TT

— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) February 9, 2026