WINSTON-SALEM, NC — WSSU head coach Tory Woodbury has lived the football dream — college star, NFL player and coach, and a Super Bowl winner.
A new chapter officially began for him on Wednesday, March 18, 2026, when the Rams held the first spring practice of the season at Civitan Park. The location was fitting. So was the tone.
Woodbury’s first day wasn’t about fireworks. It was about pace, standards, and getting aligned — the early building blocks for a program trying to climb back into the CIAA title picture.
Tory Woodbury brings an NFL tempo to WSSU
Woodbury said his practice structure and rhythm are influenced by the environments he’s been in as both a player and coach at the NFL level.
“First day, the guys get kind of used to how we practice… kind of have the same practice script I did with the LA Rams and did with the Jets and stuff,” Woodbury told HBCU Gameday after practice. “So they get used to the tempo and how we move around.”
That tempo came with a clear emphasis on discipline and details. Woodbury repeatedly framed the process as incremental improvement — stacking days, stacking habits, and developing consistency.
“I’m big on tempo, just being disciplined,” he said. “So we’ll continue to… keep stacking brick by brick… and we just get one percent better.”
Building the core before the fall
With WSSU bringing in a number of high school recruits, Woodbury noted that spring ball is less about finishing the roster and more about establishing the foundation.
“This is going to be our core,” he said, pointing to the returning players who will provide much of the leadership. “It’s very important that we get this group to mesh, because then once the younger guys… they’re going to follow suit.”
Woodbury also highlighted his relationship with his inaugural coaching staff as something he feels good about.
“The good thing is that I’ve known everybody here for a very long time,” he said. “They’re still learning how I kind of do things… and we all just coaching together.”
WSSU’s championship standard still the goal
The urgency around WSSU football is nothing new. The Rams are one of the CIAA’s most storied programs — but they haven’t reached the conference championship game since 2016. That’s now the program’s longest title-game drought since it won its first CIAA championship in 1977.
Woodbury led WSSU to two titles as a quarterback. Now, as a head coach, the mission is clear: raise the day-to-day standard so WSSU can raise its ceiling.
He didn’t talk about instant results on Day One. But he is promising a process shaped by high-level experience — and a practice environment built to move with purpose.
“Not a bad first day at all,” Woodbury said.