Cody Wells enters his sixth season on John Grass’ staff after returning in 2016 to take over as the quarterbacks coach. The 2021 season will be his third leading the JSU wide receivers.
Wells rejoined Grass and the Gamecocks after one season as the quarterbacks coach at his alma mater of Louisiana at Monroe in 2015. He was a graduate assistant at JSU in 2014, when the Gamecocks rolled to the Ohio Valley Conference title with a perfect 8-0 mark in league play.
In three years over the JSU quarterbacks, Wells has had the First Team All-OVC selection in each after Eli Jenkins claimed the honor in 2016, Bryant Horn in 2017 and Zerrick Cooper in 2018. He has played a large role in helping JSU claim three OVC titles and just six OVC losses in four seasons, extending the Gamecocks’ streak of conference titles to an OVC-record five from 2014-18.
In the 2020-21 season, his second in charge of the receivers, saw him lead a new unit that featured a pair of All-OVC performers in Ahmad Edwards and Michael Pettway. Sixteen different players caught at least one pass for the Gamecocks in guiding them to their sixth OVC title in seven years and the No. 4 National Seed in the FCS Playoffs. Nine different players caught a touchdown pass during the season.
The 2019 season was his first as the Gamecocks’ wide receivers coach and one that saw plenty of production from his unit. Josh Pearson earned his second-straight All-America honors after hauling in 59 catches for 943 yards, the fifth-most in a season in school history. He wrapped up an historic career that resulted in a free agent contract with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Wells’ third season, 2018, was an historic one for the Gamecock quarterbacks unit. Cooper was a Sophomore All-American and had the best passing season in school history. He set new school records with 3,416 yards, 32 touchdown passes and 251 completions. His 290.9 yards of total offense per game were also a new school record. He ranked third nationally in touchdown passes and fourth in passing yards in 2018, while also finishing among the national leaders in passing efficiency (13th– 147.6) and total offense (15th– 290.9). With just one season under his belt at JSU, he already ranked seventh in school history in career touchdown passes and 10thin career passing yards.
The 2017 season saw JSU post a 10-2 record and an 8-0 mark in league play. The Gamecocks led the OVC in scoring offense behind the leadership of first-year starting quarterback Bryant Horn. The junior moved to the position from the defensive side and, under Wells’ leadership, grabbed First Team All-OVC honors in his first year as a starting quarterback.
His first season in charge of the JSU signal callers in 2016 was nothing short of spectacular. He oversaw a unit that featured three-time First Team All-OVC quarterback Eli Jenkins, who was also named the OVC’s Offensive Player of the Year and the OVC’s Male Athlete of the Year in both his junior and senior seasons.
Jenkins was a dual-threat quarterback that ran for 1,127 yards and 13 scores, while passing for 2,107 yards and 11 more touchdowns. Thanks to the production at the quarterback position, the Gamecocks led the OVC and was seventh nationally in rushing offense and once against posted one of the top offenses in the nation.
Wells returned to JSU after spending the 2015 campaign as quarterbacks coach of the Warhawks. He led freshman quarterback Garrett Smith to a 2,000-yard passing campaign that also saw him complete over 57 percent of his passes for 17 touchdowns before suffering a late season injury.
Wells knows success in the passing game and helped the Gamecocks to then-unprecedented success during his one season in 2014. In that season, he assisted with the wide receiver unit, one that helped the Gamecocks roll up a school-record 510.8 yards per game. Those numbers were instrumental in the Gamecocks going 10-2, including that perfect OVC record and the school’s fourth OVC title.
Then-sophomore Josh Barge caught 56 passes for 919 yards and four touchdowns in that 2014 season. He was an All-OVC pick and led a group of 15 players that caught at least one pass during the season and seven players that caught at least one touchdown.
Wells began his coaching career in 2013 as an offensive graduate assistant at ULM. That season, he assisted with quarterback Kolton Browning, who threw for 2,179 yards and 21 touchdowns before wrapping up his career with a school-record 81 passing touchdowns and over 10,000 yards. Browning was later invited to the Dallas Cowboys training camp.
Prior to his coaching career, Wells appeared in 47 games during his four seasons with the Warhawks. He finished that career with 1,897 passing yards and 13 touchdown passes, while tallying a 118.8 pass efficiency rating.
As a senior, he started at Arkansas State and finished the game 37-of-53 for 357 yards and two touchdowns. During that final season, he completed 64.1 percent of his passes.
Wells was named to the Sun Belt Conference’s Academic Honor Roll each season at ULM. He was also named the recipient of both the ULM President’s Award and the AdvoCare V100 Independence Bowl Scholar-Athlete Award in 2012.
In July of 2017, Wells married the former Allie McComas of Monroe, La. The couple had their first child, Anna Collins, in July of 2018, and welcomed their second child, Cannon Bradley, in September of 2020.
