In Raymond Woodie’s second year, can Bethune-Cookman be competitive in the SWAC?

When Raymond Woodie Jr. took the Bethune-Cookman job, he knew he had his work cut out for him. After Hall of Fame Safety Ed Reed’s short stint at head coach, which brought negative attention to the university, Bethune Cookman needed a leader to rejuvenate a program that had gone 2-9 in the two years prior.

The former Florida Atlantic assistant coach certainly didn’t turn his team into SWAC contenders his first season, Bethune Cookman showed demonstrable improvement last season, despite winning just three games. Woodie’s impact was evident on defense, where the Wildcats ranked sixth in the SWAC in scoring defense and eighth in total defense.

The team won games against Mississippi Valley State, Alabama A&M and Savannah State, and played top-level SWAC programs Alabama State and Jackson State close.

However, the Wildcats struggled on offense, recycling through three quarterbacks in Tyler Sprague, Walter Simmons III and Tylik Bethea throughout the year. None of them appeared primed to take the starting role permanently and each struggled to generate big plays on offense, with the Wildcats’ longest pass play being just 43 yards last season.

Bethune Cookman’s floundering passing game could not be alleviated on the ground, as leading rusher Jimmie Robinson III– who later transferred– averaged just 3.6 yards per carry.

But with another offseason to improve the roster, Woodie dipped into the portal and brought 12 FBS transfers, including six Power-Five transfers. Much of that talent comes on the defensive side of the ball, where the Wildcats are hoping to exceed last year’s success.

These players include former Arizona defensive lineman Orin Patu, former defensive end UCF Dallaz Corbit, former Colorado State linebacker Tramayne Mejia-Paster and former Cal defensive back Raymond Woodie III– who will all be expected to contribute immediately.

Also, linebacker Dearis Thomas is one of the best returning defenders in the SWAC, finishing the 2023 season with 97 tackles and 12.5 tackles for loss.

However, the Wildcats ceiling will depend on if they can find a serviceable quarterback in 2024. Bethune-Cookman has a whopping eight quarterbacks on the roster, including Sprague, Simmons and Bethea. If one of the quarterbacks can rise and become the permanent starter throughout the season, the Wildcats offense should be much improved.

The good news for the quarterbacks is that the top seven receivers for the Wildcats are all returning. With another year of chemistry with the quarterbacks, the receiving core should almost certainly improve upon last year’s poor performance.

At the same time, nobody on the outside will put fear in the defense, which means its like Bethune-Cookman will face loaded boxes in all of its games.

If the Wildcats don’t take a step forward in either the run or pass games, the defense will be asked to shoulder a load too big to handle– resulting in a more or less similar record as the past few years.

But if the Wildcats can demonstrate improvements offensively, their fortunes against top SWAC programs could reverse– making a .500 or above record a possibility.