Former NFL cornerback star Charles Woodson has faced many challenging teams in his career. However, the 2021 Hall of Fame inductee is now facing his biggest challenge so far - coaching his own son.

During his appearance on the Jon Gruden podcast, Woodson discussed his life after the NFL career and coaching his son for his collegiate career.

"This would be my third year. So I've been doing it the past two, and it was hard at first because how kids are," Woodson stated. "So I've been giving him this advice on different things, and he'd be shrugging me off, but being able to be out there and actually coaching him and the other kids and being able to impart that knowledge on him. He finally came around, so it's been fun."

Woodson Sr. is busy coaching his son post his retirement from the NFL. He jokingly admits how difficult it is to teach his son because he doesn't seem to value his father's wisdom. He highlights how kids resist parental guidance.

Woodson's guidance in football holds some weight. His career spanned 18 years and saw him play 254 games. With 65 interceptions and 997 solo tackles, he was also the Defensive Player of the Year in 2009.

Despite the fact that Woodson Jr is looking to carve out his own identity, his father was his first coach.

Woodson Talks About His Son's Journey

For a father, watching his own son follow his footsteps is nothing short of a dream come true. Charles Woodson got to experience that firsthand when his son not only took up his sport but also enrolled at the same university.

However, football wasn't the first sport Charles Sr wanted his son to play. In an interview with 247Sports, Woodson Sr. discussed the trajectory of his sons' interest towards football.

"In all seriousness, when they (Charles Jr & Chase) were growing up, initially I tried to get them to play everything but football," Woodson said.

Woodson imposed limits on what his two sons could do. He introduced some restrictions by putting them into flag football. He also discouraged them from playing contact football till seventh grade.

Surprisingly, it was Chase who leaned towards football earlier. However, it didn't take time for Charles Jr to develop a liking for the sport too.

"I saw that shift probably right before last year, his junior year. Over that time, it's just continued to grow to where he has no questions," Woodson said. "He watches more film, he's asking me about different things, and those were things that he initially wasn't doing."

That shift did pay off, as Charles is a three-star recruit with the Wolverines. He also received a composite score of 0.8744, according to 247Sports.

Woodson Jr.'s love for the sport and his father's mentorship brought him to one of the most elite college football programs in Ann Arbor. With his pedigree, the sky is the limit for the youngster.

Read more at the Michigan Football Community

Written by

Sourav Ganguly

Edited by

Rishab Nandi