Malachi Hood

Senior · West Virginia Mountaineers

Height6' 2"

Weight228 lbs

HometownPlainfield, IL

Unitdefense

WVU Athletics source

Complete WVU record

ClassRedshirt Senior

High schoolJoliet Catholic

Previous schoolIllinois

Official hometownPlainfield, Ill.

Played linebacker, appearing in 13 games with eight starts
Earned Academic All-Big Ten honors
Finished fifth on the team with 44 tackles, including 28 solos, one sack and 2.5 tackles for loss
Produced one pass breakup, one forced fumble and had one fumble recovery on the year
Had five tackles, including two solo stops, a sack and a tackle for loss in the Music City Bowl
Recorded a career-high six tackles in wins over Western Michigan and Northwestern
Also forced a fumble against Northwestern
Tallied five tackles with three solo stops against Ohio State
Added four tackles with a fumble recovery in win at Duke
Registered four solo tackles, including one tackle for loss in win over Western Illinois

Appeared in 12 games
Earned Academic All-Big Ten
Finished the season with 14 tackles, including eight solo stops
Added two sacks and two forced fumbles and added a fumble recovery and a pass breakup
Registered two sacks and two forced fumbles against Northwestern
Recovered his first career fumble against Michigan

Played strong safety and running back for coach Jake Jaworski at Joliet Catholic High
Three-year letterwinner
Led Joliet Catholic to the 2021 IHSA 4A state championship and No. 2-ranking in Illinois
Part of a defense that held its opponents to 16.9 points a game

Son of Michael and Josephine Hood
One of three children (1 brother, 1 sister)
Cousin, Marcus Hood, played linebacker at Illinois from 1997-2000
Graduated with a bachelor’s degree in political science from Illinois in August 2025
Pursuing a master’s degree in business administration

Career record

Updated Aug 28, 2026, 9:48 AM EDT

Season	Team	TOT	SOLO	AST	PD	SACK	FF	INT	YDS	TD
2024	illinois fighting illini	14	8	6	1	2	2	0	0	0
2025	illinois fighting illini	44	28	16	1	1	1	0	0	0