Wood tabbed new coach of Ridley football
A new era of Ridley High football has officially begun.
The Ridley Board of School Directors Monday night approved the hiring of Dave Wood, a Penn Wood High graduate who most recently was an assistant coach at the University of Penn.
Wood replaces Dennis Decker, who stepped down in late-December following a seven-year tenure that included a District One Class AAAA championship run in 2009. Wood becomes the sixth head coach in Ridley High history, following Decker, John Waller, Ralph Batty, Joe McNicholas and Phil Marion.
“You have great support from the community at Ridley and there’s always great kids in that program,” Wood told The Delaware County Daily Times by phone Monday night. “And then there’s the tradition. You take a look at all the alumni that played in the program and what they’ve been able to accomplish. I’m just very fortunate to have that job, to be the next coach, and I’m looking forward to getting in the school and get working.”
Wood said he will meet with his players Tuesday.
Scott Green, the former offensive coordinator at Garnet Valley and head coach at Kennett, will join Wood’s staff.
While he has never coached at the high school level, Wood brings vast experience to the Green Raiders. Prior to serving as secondary and linebackers coach at Penn from 2010-15, Wood enjoyed a successful seven-year stint as Widener University’s head coach. He guided the Pride to four Middle Atlantic Conference Championships, three NCAA Division III playoff appearances and one NCAA Final Four trip.
Wood is a graduate of Penn Wood and earned both a bachelor of arts and masters degree from Widener. He was a Division III All-American and a three-year starter at defensive back at Widener.
He began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Widener in 1991 and eventually moved on to Lehigh University, where he coached running backs for one year.
The school district also announced that Jill Davis will take over the girls lacrosse program. Davis, a 2006 Ridley graduate who played lacrosse at LaSalle University, replaces Kristen Milewski, who resigned in January
