Dean Hood is the new head football coach at Murray State University.
Hood was formally introduced Friday by Murray State President Dr. Bob Jackson and Director of Athletics Kevin Saal as Murray State University’s 19th head coach.
Currently, Hood is special teams coordinator and defensive backs coach at Kentucky. During his time in Lexington, the Wildcats accomplished one of the program’s most successful three-year stints, to include three consecutive bowl games and a 10-win season in 2018, just the fourth in program history.
As head coach at Eastern Kentucky from 2008-15, Coach Hood was the winningest coach in the OVC with a record of 44-19 (.698) in eight seasons, including three FCS playoff appearances and a pair of OVC championships. EKU produced 10 All-Americans, two OVC Players of the Year and one OVC Freshman of the Year. Additionally, Coach Hood mentored 26 first-team all-conference performers and multiple players who advanced to the National Football League. In Hood’s eight seasons as head coach at EKU, the program performed well academically, producing 18 OVC Academic Medal of Honor winners. In his first two stints as an assistant coach at EKU (1994-96 & 1997-98), Hood worked under legendary coach Roy Kidd, helping guide EKU to two OVC championships and two FCS Tournament appearances.
Hood also led a highly-effective, nation-best defensive unit for seven seasons at Wake Forest (2001-07), earning the school’s first Atlantic Coast Conference championship in 36 years. He began his career at Fairmont (W.Va.) in 1987 and experienced stops with Colgate (1989), Glenville State (W.Va.) (1990-93), Ohio (1999-00) and Charlotte (2016).
In total, Coach Hood has participated in six post-season bowl games at the FBS level and eight post-seasons at previous FCS/NAIA stops. Murray State is gaining a winning coach who knows the OVC, but also a developer of men, keenly focused on whole-person development of young people as they prepare for their next forty years of life.
