WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Winston-Salem State head coach Tory Woodbury is well aware of how social media works. And how dangerous it can be to get caught up in it after a historically rough start.
WSSU knew there would be growing pains with a first-year head coach, a new staff and more than 50 new players learning how to become a team.
Knowing that hasn’t made the first two weeks any easier.
WSSU opened the Woodbury era with consecutive shutout losses. The Rams fell 56-0 at Norfolk State before returning home and losing 17-0 to Mars Hill. They are 0-2 and still looking for their first points of the season.
At Winston-Salem State, however, expectations don’t disappear because a roster is young.
The program has built a standard that its players, coaches, alumni and fans expect it to meet. That means the criticism has arrived quickly, especially on social media, and it hasn’t only come from people wearing opposing colors.
Woodbury knows what’s being said. More importantly, he knows his players see it.
“It doesn’t bother me personally, to be honest with you,” Woodbury said during WSSU’s weekly press conference. “I know it’s out there. People are going to talk, but I also know people judge a position that they’ll never play.”
Woodbury has heard criticism throughout his football life. The former WSSU quarterback pointed to what he has accomplished along the way and said outside commentary has never stopped him before.
His concern now is different.
“More so, I wish I could protect my young men,” Woodbury said. “It’s a social media era, so everybody’s on their phone. So they see it. They see how they talk about us. They see how they talk about me. And they get frustrated. They get upset.”
WSSU learning to live with the social media noise
Social media has made criticism almost impossible for players to avoid.
Tory Woodbury understands that people are entitled to their opinions. He isn’t asking Winston-Salem State supporters or critics to stop having them, either.
His message to his players is that hearing an opinion doesn’t mean they have to soak it in.
“People are entitled to their opinion. I can take criticism. That doesn’t bother me,” Woodbury said. “Everybody want to have their opinion. I’m fine with that opinion. That’s what comes along with being this.”
Woodbury said the harder part is watching criticism reach the people around him. Woodbury’s players see it. His family sees it. His brothers and sisters sometimes react to things written about him, and his younger brother helps manage his social media accounts.
Woodbury said he has to remind his family of the same thing he tells his team: don’t allow someone else’s words to dictate your response.
Some of the negative comments, he said, even come from people he has helped in the past.
“You can say what you want to say, but just whatever side you stay on, just stay on that side,” Woodbury said. “That lets me know who’s here.”
For Winston-Salem State, the challenge now is making sure a rough two-game stretch doesn’t become something larger inside the locker room.
Woodbury inherited a roster that underwent massive turnover. More than 50 players are new to the program, with many arriving directly from high school.
He acknowledges the youth, but he isn’t using it to run from the expectations.
“We’re not jumping ship. I’m not jumping ship,” Woodbury said. “I’m not changing much. I’m still going to ride with my guys.”
WSSU players haven’t lost confidence
The message coming from the players sounds much the same.
Quarterback DeAndre Goldston, who saw his most extensive action against Mars Hill, said Winston-Salem State hasn’t lost belief despite the early adversity.
“We’ve never lost confidence in ourselves,” Goldston said. “It’s just a little adversity.”
Veteran defensive lineman C.J. Brown has taken on the responsibility of reinforcing that message with younger teammates.
“It’s a lot of football that’s left to be played,” Brown said. “I think we’re a team that’s going to get better each week.”
Tory Woodbury has also tried to give his players perspective beyond the scoreboard and the reactions they see on social media.
He pointed out that football remains only one part of life. WSSU is in a performance-based business, and winning matters, but he said his responsibility to his players extends beyond Saturdays.
He still expects them to attend class, go to study hall and conduct themselves the right way.
That isn’t changing because the Rams are 0-2.
No easy way out for Winston-Salem State
There isn’t much time for WSSU to dwell on its start.
Defending CIAA champion Johnson C. Smith comes to Bowman Gray Stadium next, giving the Rams their toughest conference measuring stick almost immediately.
Woodbury sees the matchup as an opportunity.
“You can’t win a CIAA championship in two games,” he said. “What better opportunity God has given us to kind of prove ourselves?”
The expectations around Winston-Salem State remain high. That was true when Tory Woodbury accepted the job, and two difficult Saturdays haven’t changed it.
The Rams are taking their lumps publicly while a young roster tries to grow up quickly. Much of that process is now unfolding in front of fans and critics on social media.
Woodbury isn’t asking people to stop talking.
He’s telling his team not to let the talk become louder than the work.
“We win together. We lose together,” Woodbury said. “We just got to quiet the outside noise.”