Ray Woodard is a former American football

American football

American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

 defensive tackle and current head coach

Head coach

A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches...

 at Lamar University

Lamar University

Lamar University, often referred to as Lamar or LU, is a comprehensive coeducational public research university located in Beaumont, Texas, United States. Lamar confers bachelors, masters and doctoral degrees and is classified as a Doctoral Research University by the Carnegie Commission on Higher...

. He was hired on May 19, 2008 to resurrect the Lamar Cardinals

Lamar Cardinals

The Lamar Cardinals refers to the collegiate athletic teams of Lamar University. The inception of the nickname "Cardinals" dates back to the schools name change to Lamar in 1932. The teams compete in Division I of NCAA sports...

 football program that was discontinued in 1989. Woodard played college football

College football

College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...

 at Kilgore College

Kilgore College

Kilgore College is a community college located in Kilgore, Texas. It has an annual enrollment of more than 5000 students.The school was established in 1935 at the height of the East Texas oil boom...

 and Texas, was selected 199th overall in the 1984 NFL Draft

1984 NFL Draft

The 1984 NFL Draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held May 1-2, 1984. No teams elected to claim any players in the regular supplemental draft that...

. He spent the next five seasons with the San Diego Chargers

San Diego Chargers

The San Diego Chargers are a professional American football team based in San Diego, California. they were members of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...

, Denver Broncos

Denver Broncos

The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver, Colorado. They are currently members of the West Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...

 and Kansas City Chiefs

Kansas City Chiefs

The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. They are a member of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Originally named the Dallas Texans, the club was founded by Lamar Hunt in 1960 as a...

. He was a member of the Broncos' 1986 AFC Champion and Super Bowl team.

NFL Europe

He spent three years as the defensive coordinator for the Scottish Claymores

Scottish Claymores

The Scottish Claymores were an American football team from Scotland. The franchise played in the World League of American Football between 1995 and 2004, initially playing all home games at Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh and latterly sharing home games with Hampden Park, Glasgow...

 from 2000-2003.

Navarro Junior College

From 2005-2007 Woodard spent his time coaching at Navarro Junior College. His first two years were spent as a defensive coordinator and his last year he was head coach. His 2007 squad went 9-3 and advanced to the conference playoffs for the first time in six seasons.

Navarro defeated defending national champion Blinn College on consecutive weeks before rolling past Kilgore - the SWJCFC regular-season champion - on the road 54-28 to earn the school's first bowl bid since the 1990s.

Navarro claimed a 24-21 win over Georgia Military in the Pilgrim's Pride Bowl to finish the year ranked fourth in the NJCAA national poll. For his efforts, Woodard was named the SWJCFC Coach of the Year.

Navarro ranked third nationally in total offense (444.6 yards per game), fourth in rushing offense (250.5 ypg) and 16th in passing offense (194.2 ypg), while scoring a school-record 428 points for an average of 35.7 per game in 2007.

Lamar University

In 2008 Lamar University

Lamar University

Lamar University, often referred to as Lamar or LU, is a comprehensive coeducational public research university located in Beaumont, Texas, United States. Lamar confers bachelors, masters and doctoral degrees and is classified as a Doctoral Research University by the Carnegie Commission on Higher...

 hired Ray Woodard as their first head football coach in almost 20 years to bring football back to Lamar. The Lamar Cardinals football

Lamar Cardinals football

The Lamar Cardinals football program represents Lamar University in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision level. The Cardinals are members of the Southland Conference, although they will not play a full conference schedule until 2011. The Cardinals play their...

team played their first season in 2010 under coach Woodard. The 2010 Cardinals went 5–6 as Division I independents.

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