AI usage was a hot topic during Conference USA media day last week. Every coach was asked about AI in their respective programs. Every coach shared that AI was being used in some form or another — including Missouri State’s Casey Woods.
The first year head coach explained there is a balancing act between hard nosed football and advanced technology. Both must be used to have a successful program.
“You have to combine toughness while being cutting edge,” Woods said. “There is a guy out there named Thad Wells. He is on the forefront of introducing AI through a coach’s mindset.”
Who is Thad Wells?
He is Casey Woods’ AI guru.
media days
“There is no doubt in my mind that Casey will absolutely crush this,” Wells told the News-Leader.
Wells created Rooski, an AI tool tailored for football coaches.It’s a program that is at the forefront of technology, while remaining true to its football roots.
The program is not creating plays or schemes yet, but it is doing much of the administration work that is giving coaches hours of their lives back to them.
“Most of the time, we are not on the practice field. We are not in a game,” Wells said. “Most of this is work being done in the building at a computer. It’s not going to watch film, it’s not going to build relationships with recruits. The ROI its got for one hour in and two hours out, you’d say, ‘I have to do this.’”
Time management skills for Wells has been crucial to his success.
He was a decorated high school football coach in Virginia, winning a state championship. He was also part of Bronco Mendenhall’s staff at Virginia. He has been heavily influenced by Mendenhall’s time management skills, which he passes off to many coaches.
As a young coach, Wells attended a clinic led by Sparky Woods, who was VMI's head coach at the time. Today, Woods is an assistant coach with the Bears. He’s also the father to head coach Casey Woods.
“I’m 24 at the time, I sit down with the head coach at VMI, nervous as heck,” Wells said. “We talked ball for like two hours.”
Casey Woods just got his first head coaching job at Missouri State.
— Thad Wells (@ThadWells) December 19, 2025
He's worked under Fulmer, Malzahn, Bill Clark, Drinkwitz, and Rhett Lashlee.
Here's what he learned about building a program.
🧵THREAD https://t.co/aVbJWZwSAc pic.twitter.com/JvhzWRKaeZ
At the end of the conversation, Woods asked Wells who was his coaching inspiration. Gus Malzahn was Wells’ answer.
Malzahn was coaching Arkansas State, with none other than Casey Woods on his staff.
“The next day, Casey calls me and said, ‘Hey, my dad says you like Gus Malzahn,’” Wells said. “‘You want to come down for a camp?’ They were just being good people. The head coach of VMI did not need to text his son, his son did not need to follow up with me.”
Since that moment, the Woods have been involved in Wells’ life. Casey and Sparky have been references for Wells in many coaching job applications.
As AI has influenced football, Wells has seen this as a chance to give back to the Woods and other coaches in an aspect of the game that he truly loves.
“He’s a family guy. He wants some balance. He’s innovative. AI is literally his wheel house,” Wells said about Casey. “I reached out to Casey and I said, ‘You’ve helped me my whole life, I’d love to help with you with AI.”
Again, AI is not developed enough to create plays or scheme defenses at this moment. This is a time saving measure that is helping with travel itinerary or other administrative duties that is cutting hours of work out of a coach’s life.
“AI is not going away,” Woods said. “We need to embrace exactly what it is."
Liam Keating covers high school sports and Missouri State athletics for The Springfield News-Leader. Send stats or information to him at Lkeating@usatodayco.com
This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Meet Thad Wells, Missouri State coach Casey Woods' artifical intelligence guru
