Alumni Q&A: OSU marketing grad Donovan Woods knows how to rally a team
Thursday, December 18, 2025
Media Contact: Hallie Hart | Communications Coordinator | 405-744-1050 | hallie.hart@okstate.edu
Donovan Woods remembers his first business job as a salesman driving a company car in the northeastern United States.
By that point, he had a Super Bowl ring with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Woods, a quarterback and safety/linebacker on the Oklahoma State University football team from 2003-07, treasured his NFL opportunity while listening to cautionary advice.
NFL means Not For Long, mentors said. Sure enough, after his football career ended in 2010, Woods found himself on the job hunt like any other Spears School of Business graduate.
Fortunately, he was prepared with a marketing degree and a supportive college network. When OSU alumnus Russ Harrison offered the sales position, Woods went for it.
“It was really fun, and it was a reality check,” Woods said. “When you go into an office, a lot of people don’t care anymore about how many touchdowns you scored or what your bench press was. All of the things you did prior are great, but the things they ask you to do from a professional standpoint and from a business standpoint moving forward, those are the things that matter.”
One connection led to another, eventually bringing Woods back to his alma mater. He has spent 12 years with the OSU Foundation, where he engages donors as the director of development for OSU-Oklahoma City & corporate and foundation relations.
Combining his Spears Business education with his sports background, Woods looks out for his team.
“Playing a role within my family and within organizations, I know how important it is for everyone to have something,” Woods said. “When the whole is doing well, that means there’s enough for everybody to have their fill. That’s the same with business.”
With one younger sister and four older siblings, Woods had to be a team player from birth. He stayed close to older brothers Rashaun and D’Juan, as all three built impressive football resumes at Oklahoma City’s Millwood High School and OSU, where Rashaun’s name lines the record books.
While Rashaun and D’Juan majored in education with coaching aspirations, Donovan chose business. He arrived at OSU working toward a bachelor’s degree and an NFL career, and he got both.
The diploma came first as Woods crossed the graduation stage in December 2007. Despite going undrafted in April 2008, he signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers as a free agent, earning chances to play during their Super Bowl XLIII championship season before brief stints with the Dallas Cowboys and Buffalo Bills.
Today, Woods is back in his home city.
He has an office at OSU-OKC off 10th Street and Portland Avenue, contributing to the branch campus’ rapid growth. Heading into the new year, Woods has stayed busy with the recent launch of OSU’s The Code Calls campaign and the annual holiday giving season — and still, he made time to catch up with Spears Business.
Q: What led you to a business major?
Woods: I watched my dad get up every morning and put on a suit and tie and carry a briefcase. I knew after sports, we would be doing something — not necessarily with a briefcase and a sport coat all the time, but business seemed like the next step in the journey. Sports offered some of those things, as well. We were getting opportunities to be in front of people; to talk, visit and interview; and be exposed to some things that you need to be exposed to in the business world.
I tell this to some of the kids I mentor and that I coached. Say you are a first-round NFL draft pick. You get drafted at 21. You play 10 years. At 31, you still got a whole lot of life left to live after you get done with that career, so you have to be able to manage your money. You have to be able to manage your life. We had examples of being able to do that through my dad, my oldest brother, Gary, uncle Jesse Langston and other people within the community that just tried to set a good example for Rashaun, D’Juan and me. We were listening to those things, and from there, we tried to make the best decisions we could that would allow us to have an advantage and create the kind of life we wanted for ourselves and our family.
You emphasize teams and relationships. At OSU, who has been there for you as you’ve built your career?
Well, I'll go all the way back to the beginning. Amy Randolph, learning specialist in Academic Services for Student Athletes. She was instrumental in helping me navigate my entire time here, but especially my freshman year coming from Millwood, an all-Black school. Coming to Stillwater, Oklahoma, it’s obviously very different, so just being able to navigate the large class sizes, athletics and academics, she was instrumental in my development and my mental health of being a young student-athlete. Obviously, Dr. Marilyn Middlebrook, associate athletic director of academic affairs, was instrumental as well.
Professionally, former OSU-OKC president Natalie Shirley, Russ Harrison, Shane Crawford and Justin Smith. I’ve been working with the Division of Access and Community Impact as well, led by Dr. Clyde Wilson, and we previously had a titan in the role in Dr. Jason F. Kirksey, who had been there for a long time in various roles until his recent retirement.
I’m appreciative of those people and to all of the others who have helped my journey and various students’ journeys because it’s hard out here to do it by yourself. Even if you have all the knowledge, even if you have most of the resources, you really need the relationships.
Working with OSU-OKC, what excites you about OSU’s growing presence in Oklahoma City?
It is a hidden gem. In the ‘90s before I figured out that I was going to be on this campus, there was a commercial that talked about OSU in OKC — “Imagine all the possibility.” There is a lot of opportunity here with the programs that we have and the demands that our workforce will have in being able to have enough people to take on the jobs as the city is growing. Obviously, having the Oklahoma City Thunder, all of the areas and businesses moving in, they need people to work those jobs. When you talk about fire protection, police science, nursing and allied health, STEM degrees, engineering, power transmission and distribution technology, construction technology — all of those are available on the campus of OSU-OKC.
How do you apply your marketing degree to your day-to-day job?
A lot of it is relationships, again. Working with different people on campus, like Dr. Ronna Vanderslice, our provost, and having the conversations to see OSU-OKC move forward in the ways that it needs to. We are on the busiest highway in Oklahoma. Going into Oklahoma City headed to the airport, you end up passing our campus. A lot of people pass it and wonder what’s happening over there, and it’s really been a focus of ours to not just have people drive by, but actually stop and inquire about what’s happening there. Through the campaign, through our efforts in recruiting, advertising and marketing, we’re trying to get that message out there.
What’s a fun fact alumni might not know about you?
I did a whole year of animal science classes after I got done with my basics. There was a professor by the name of Brad Morgan who took me under his wing. My father is from East Texas, and they had some cows and livestock and did a whole lot of farming, gardening and ranch work. I liked being around animals and loving what they bring to life and land. But, it was intense. I switched to business that fall or spring going into my redshirt sophomore year, and it was a little bit more familiar. I stuck with it and ended up being able to walk across the stage.
You’ve also been an OSU-OKC commencement speaker. What led you to public speaking?
People encouraging me to do it. I’m not one for the spotlight and have a little bit of impostor syndrome, but it seems like when people hear me talk, they appreciate it. I think some of it comes from Sunday school at Greater Mt. Pilgrim Baptist Church. Some of it comes from my time at quarterback calling plays. Some of it comes from just conversations with my dad and uncles, paying attention to what people were saying and trying to mine the good out of it, whatever it may be. One of the only things that we have to offer is service to others, so I try to do that as much as I can.
If you would like to discuss anything with Donovan related to OSU, he can be reached at dwoods@osugiving.com.