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Shirley "Red" Wilson, the winningest football coach in Elon history, passed away Friday at the age of 95.
Times-News
Courtesy of Elon Athletics, Times-News
Shirley “Red” Wilson, the winningest football coach in Elon history, who later went on to be the Duke coach, passed away at his Burlington home on Friday of last week at the age of 95.
Wilson led the Elon program for 10 seasons from 1967-76, amassing a 72-34-2 record while also serving as the school’s athletics director.
"Coach Wilson was a great coach and even better person," Elon athletics director Dave Blank said in a statement. "His impact on so many Elon student-athletes, assistant coaches, and members of our campus and community was remarkable and he will be missed by all of us."
In 1973, Wilson’s Elon team advanced to the NAIA national championship game, losing to Abilene Christian. He twice led the then-Fighting Christians to perfect 11-0 regular seasons (1973 and 1976).
Elon won six conference championships — five in the Carolinas Conference, including four straight (1971-1974) and one in the South Atlantic Conference (1976) — under Wilson’s watch.
Wilson coached seven NAIA All-Americans while at Elon, including the eventual College Football Hall of Famer Richard McGeorge, who played for years in the NFL with the Green Bay Packers.
In 1979, Wilson was named the Duke coach, promoted from his position as an assistant under coach Mike McGee. He compiled a 16-27-1 record in four seasons leading the Blue Devils.
The Blue Devils posted back-to-back 6-5 seasons in Wilson’s final two years, his last game as the program’s coach a 23-17 victory against rival North Carolina.
"I had the good fortune to play for Coach Wilson in the 1966 Shrine Bowl and never forgot the extraordinarily positive experience," Atlantic Coast Conference commissioner John Swofford said in a statement. "He was encouraging, upbeat and a tremendous motivator. We stayed in touch for years thereafter, our paths crossing while he was at Duke and I was in Chapel Hill. I had such respect for him as a coach and as a person. His impact on sports in North Carolina, and the many young people he influenced, was significant. He was truly one of the ‘good guys.’ ”
A native of Madison, Wilson graduated from Davidson College, where he was a two-sport athlete. Wilson briefly attended Wingate when World War II began and in 1941 transferred to North Carolina, where he started as a freshman on the football team. Shortly thereafter, Wilson enlisted in the Navy.
Wilson later enrolled at Davidson, where he played three years of football and four years of baseball.
Wilson spent 17 seasons as a high school football coach in North Carolina and Virginia prior to his time at Elon. He posted a record of 138-38-11 on the high school level and won two state championships while at Winston-Salem Reynolds (1958 and 1964). His teams finished as the state runner-up three times — twice at Reynolds and once at Fayetteville Senior High School.
Wilson’s list of accolades includes being inducted into the Elon Athletics Hall of Fame, the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame and the Winston-Salem / Forsyth County High School Sports Hall of Fame.
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