He was out of coaching last year, feeding animals and tooling around on a tractor on a farm near Charlottesville.

Sparky Woods' return to the football world brings something new to learn and cultivate: the world at Virginia Military Institute.

"This Rat Line is new to me," he said. "I'm a Rat, too."

Woods takes over VMI after head coaching jobs at Appalachian State and South Carolina. He has served as an assistant in the NFL, at Tennessee, Kansas, North Alabama, Iowa State, Memphis, Virginia, Mississippi State and most recently Alabama.

He's still learning about his new school and its traditions and challenges, but he thinks the Keydets can be better.

"Whether that's good enough to beat the people we play, I don't know," he said. "I'm encouraged. We've got some bigger guys who can run.

"I have a real good attitude about being here. I see all the upsides."

VMI went 2-9 last year and faces a demanding nonconference schedule that includes Ohio, Richmond and William and Mary.

Woods, though, sees better retention numbers among his underclassmen, a productive run-oriented offense that features junior backs Tim Maypray and Howard Abegesah, and a freshman class that could produce contributors.

"One thing I don't know is the freshmen going through the Rat Line and how that will affect some of them," he said. "I'm assuming some of them will respond better than others. As far as talent, several have got a chance to get on the grass and play."

Defense will be an area of emphasis. The Keydets surrendered an average of 41.9 points.

Woods is switching from four down linemen to four linebackers.

"There were an awful lot of huge plays against us, 60-, 70-yard passes or runs," he said. "We've got to get 'em tackled and give us another down. We've got to work on not putting ourselves in one-on-one situations. Team tackling. To do that, we've got to run fast and get to the ball."

Woods also wants to cut down on turnovers (27), improve special teams and keep games close going into the fourth quarter.

"We can't go into halftime down 21 points," Woods said. "We've got to get in the fourth quarter and see the opportunity to win and have [the opponent] see the opportunity to lose."

The skinny

Coach: Sparky Woods (1st season)

Last year's records: 0-4 (last in Big South Conference), 2-9

Offense: Woods isn't fiddling with VMI's productive spread option, which averaged 402.2 yards. All-conference slotback Tim Maypray, a junior, may line up at several positions, including quarterback, since junior QB Kyle Hughes is coming off thumb surgery. Hughes threw for 1,097 yards and ran for 444. Junior Howard Abegesah led the conference in rushing with 1,121 yards. Line should be solid with C James Boatwright and OGs George Handler and Bo Wren returning.

Defense: Woods is fiddling with this side of the ball, switching to a 3-4 scheme to better utilize linebackers with more speed. Junior Patrick McKinney, senior Jacob Rochester and junior Joe Taylor (Benedictine) are experienced. Senior Andy Viola, sophomore Damiso Alexander (Hermitage High) and sophomore Josh Wine return up front.

Specialists: Maypray returned two kickoffs for touchdowns and was an all-conference pick. Sophomore Patrick Sweeney (Mills Godwin High) takes over the punting duties from Hughes.

Quotable: "I think we're better now than we were in the spring. I felt like in the spring we were better than we were last fall." -- Woods

Outlook: Woods takes over a program that has had two break-even seasons since 1981. He has four seniors, and the schedule isn't conducive to a drastic improvement in the win column. On the other hand, there's optimism. The Keydets start with a higher number of players (about 90), they can score and they were competitive in some of their losses.

Bottom line: 1-4 (fifth in Big South), 3-8