University of the Pacific

With the newly added sports of men's cross country and men's track & field getting underway in 2025, Pacific Athletics added onto its coaching staff with the hiring of Isaac Wood as Head Cross Country Coach and Assistant Track & Field Coach.
 
Wood, who built a national powerhouse as the head men's and women's cross country coach from scratch at Salt Lake City Community College, will work with both the men's and women's programs at Pacific.
 
Wood spent the last previous seasons at SLCC from 2022-24 where he won five national titles, including two in women's cross country, two women's half marathons and one in men's cross country. He guided the women to their first-ever NJCAA National Championship, followed by a team title at the NJCAA Half Marathon just days later.
 
Wood also coached nine individual national champions. It included two-time champion JaQuavious Harris who broke national records in the 5000m.
 
In 2023, Wood was recognized as the NJCAA National Coach of the Year and received the prestigious Governor of Utah's State of Sport Award for Coach of the Year.
 
Wood's coaching career includes key roles with nationally prominent programs such as BYU and Weber State. He served as the Director of Operations for BYU Track and Field from 2016 to 2020, during which the men's cross-country team won the NCAA National Championship in 2019 and achieved top-10 finishes in multiple seasons. The women's team also consistently placed among the nation's elite, including a runner-up finish in 2019.
 
At Weber State, Wood played a significant role in developing All-American distance runners Jamie Stokes and Mike Hardy. Earlier in his career, he served as a graduate assistant at Florida State and began as a team manager at BYU.

In addition to his collegiate coaching achievements, Wood is a recognized leader in the broader running community. He is the Executive Director of the Run Elite Program, Utah's first professional running organization, where he continues to mentor and coach top-level post-collegiate athletes. He also served on the NCAA Cross Country Executive Committee from 2014 to 2016.
 
Wood has deep family ties to the sport. His father Bob was a prominent figure an agent and was part of USA Track & Field. His brother Sam was the head coach at Woods Cross High for 20 years and won back-to-back Utah state track & field titles.
 
Wood also has volunteered his time as a coach to inmates at the Utah State Prison. His service has been chronicled in multiple media outlets including the Washington Post.
 
Wood, from North Salt Lake, Utah, earned his bachelor's degree in history from BYU in 2013. He speaks six languages including English, Cambodian, Hmong, Lao, Thai and Spanish. Wood and his wife Elise have a son, Beckert.