The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/575020
WHERE ARE THEY NOW? That all-conference season should have been the start of a dominating career, but Woods' 2004 campaign spiraled out of control before it even began, and 11 years later he's still not sure why. "You can talk to my teammates and ask them if I ever did anything wrong. 'Did Pierre ever get drunk or get arrested, cheat on an exam?' I never did anything," he said. "I loved Michigan, but somehow I ended up in the doghouse. "I know I had talked to Coach [Lloyd] Carr about going pro after 2003, but I don't think that was it. In 2004, we went to that 3-4 defense. We were swimming in information and everyone was struggling, and we didn't have the right personnel to play that scheme. "I'll never forget [quarterback] Chad Henne and [tailback] Mike Hart were freshmen, and we were in camp. I was supposed to drop into coverage on the left side, but I read something differently and thought Chad would audible into a run play. Coach [Jim] Herrmann always said, 'Play common sense football' and that was a common-sense reaction. "But then the coaches tell me after the play, even though I was right, that I lost my starting spot because I didn't do what I was coached to do.'" Woods has theories, but never con- firmed his suspicions of what might have led to his demotion in the eyes of the coaching staff. He does know that after being relegated him to sec- ond string on that fall day, he would spend the rest of his career work- ing to regain his coaches' trust. And Woods was willing to do whatever that required. When he was informed in the win- ter of 2005 he would not be offered the opportunity to return as a fifth- year senior, he begged for another chance, knowing he needed another semester to graduate. Consigned to the scout team, he doubled his efforts, earning a promo- tion to third string, then second and, eventually re-establishing himself as a starter defensively. "When I did play, I made good," he said. "Look at the Michigan State game my senior year. We won in Woods spent five seasons in the NFL — the first four with the New England Patriots — and carved out a niche as a special teams standout. PHOTO COURTESY NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS