Email Assistant Coach Jonathan Wood

Jonathan Wood has been the assistant coach for the Boise State cheerleaders since 2003. His connection to the Boise State Spirit Squad started in 1997, when he was a freshman in college. He cheered for six consecutive years while in college and graduate school, and was a member of the team in 2003 when it made its competitive debut and placed 8th at USA Nationals. Jon specializes in designing transitional pyramids and choreographing routines for timeouts, pep rallies, and competitions. He has choreographed every routine for Boise State since 2005, and always placed in the top 4 including a 2nd place finish in 2007, and the team's 2008 National Championship.

Outside of Boise State, Jon is the founder and president of Legacy Spirit, a company that provides cheerleading and dance summer camps, educational materials, choreography services, and competitive events. His innovative choreography has led to national championships at both the high school and college levels, and he has judged at the national level. Jon is the founder and head coach of the Idaho Wildfire All-Star Cheerleading Gym. Additionally, he is the Idaho State Director for the National Center for Spirit Safety and Education (NCSSE), the nation’s most comprehensive cheerleading education and safety certification system. As the State Director he conducts safety certification courses for cheerleading coaches at all levels in both school and all-star programs. An avid supporter of the NCSSE system, he contributed to the most recent editions of the NCSSE safety manuals.

Currently, Jon is authoring the NCSSE's collegiate manual as well as the forthcoming book Coaching Cheerleading: Building Powerful Cheerleaders and an Impressive Team, which focuses on cheerleading-oriented strength training, safety, and stunt techniques. He is also developing the web site traintocheer.com, a web site dedicated to educating athletes and coaches with video and other digital media. It will launch in February of 2009.

Jonathan holds a Master’s degree in English and taught as an adjunct in the English Department at Boise State from 2001 through 2008. He has published ghost-written work in English textbooks and regularly contributes to cheer publications such as American Cheerleader, CheerBizNews, and Cheer Coach and Advisor.