The legendary coach compiled the most successful record in Elon football history.
Legendary Elon football coach Shirley “Red” Wilson died Jan. 8 at the age of 95 in Burlington, N.C.
“Coach Wilson was a great coach and even better person,” said Dave Blank, Elon University Director of Athletics. “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.”
Wilson coached at Elon from 1967 to 1976 and was the most successful football coach in program history with a record of 72-34-2. In three of his final four seasons at Elon, his teams won 10 or more games, turning the program into a powerhouse at the NAIA level. He went on to coach at Duke University from 1979 to 1982, compiling an overall career record of 88–61–3. His final game as a head coach was a victory over archrival North Carolina.
In his Elon coaching debut, the 1967 season opener against Elon’s oldest rival Guilford College on September 23, was a 28 to 21 victory, and the Wilson era was underway. His first season finished with five wins, three losses, and one tie.
Coach Wilson coached seven All-Americans in his time at Elon, including five first-team All-Americans, the 1976 South Atlantic Conference Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year in Howard Ferguson and Ricky Locklear and College Football Hall of Fame Member Richard McGeorge.
Wilson led Elon to six conference championships – five in the Carolinas Conference, including four straight from 1971 to 1974, and a South Atlantic Conference Championship in 1976.
He led Elon to the NAIA Division I Championship Game in 1973, losing to Abilene Christian in the finals after completing an 11-0 regular season. The following year Elon was back in the NAIA playoffs losing to Henderson State in the semi-finals. In his final year with Elon, Wilson led Elon to an 11-0 regular season, losing a National Championship semi-final game to Central Arkansas 10 to 7 in overtime.
In addition to serving as head football coach, Wilson also served as Elon athletics director, expanding all intercollegiate sports, from women’s sports to the addition of track and field and wrestling.
Wilson was a member of 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. He received the Alamance County Sports Development Council Distinguished Service Award, the Johnny Vaught Head Coach Award of the All-American Football Foundation, and the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame’s Bill Dooley Chapter Award for Outstanding Contribution to Football. Wilson served on the NC Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness. He was awarded an Honorary Life Membership in the NC Football Coaches Association, the Order of the Longleaf Pine by former NC Governor Jim Hunt, and was a 1995 Elon Medallion recipient.
Following his coaching service at Duke University, Duke’s President, Terry Sanford, offered Wilson a position at Duke Medical Center. There he enjoyed an outstanding career in patient relations and fund-raising. Wilson made such an impact throughout his time at the Medical Center that the University named the Human Performance Laboratory at the Duke Center for Living after him upon his retirement. This gesture was a final tribute for his years of service and helping others.
Wilson was born in 1925 near Madison, North Carolina, briefly attended college before enlisting in the U.S. Navy, serving as a Corpsman. He received his honorable discharge in 1946 and used the G.I. Bill to return to college, playing football and baseball at Davidson College, where he graduated and then began his career in coaching.
Wilson’s coaching career began in Selma, NC, where he taught and coached at the local high school. It quickly became apparent that Red knew how to win as a coach. One season, after his Reynolds High School Black Demon team was handily whipped in their opening game by several touchdowns, he exhorted to his players in a dead silent locker room after the game, “We shall lose no more!” And they then won 11 straight games and the state title. He compiled an impressive resume including a women’s basketball regional championship in Henderson, NC; football conference championships in Selma, NC, Henderson, NC, and South Norfolk, VA; two state championships, two runners-up champions, and two playoff berths at Reynolds High School in Winston-Salem, NC; and another runner-up championship at Fayetteville Senior High. His successes did not stop with football — Wilson also produced many successful swimming teams and golf teams at Reynolds. One of the highlights of his high school coaching days was his last high school game, the NC-SC Shrine bowl in 1966, when his team scored 35 points in the second half to win the game. The feat remains a Shrine Bowl record for the most points ever scored in a single half.
A lifelong learner, Wilson returned to UNC-Chapel Hill to earn his Master’s in Education and a principal’s certificate. He later did post-graduate work on an RJ Reynolds Tobacco Fellowship in psychology at the University of Colorado.
Elon Athletics and his former players paid tribute to Wilson in 2017 at a game-day tailgate reunion on the Elon campus. Then-head football coach Rich Skrosky presented Wilson with an Elon football helmet covered in autographs and other Phoenix gear. Many of those attending called Wilson a friend, mentor and father figure.
“He was an innovator,” former Elon quarterback Burgin Beale told the Times-News. “He won and yet he’s as dignified and humble as can be. He’s just a class act. He was always prepared. That’s what he did, I think, for us. Those of us who went into coaching, he showed us how to get prepared when you coach. And those who went into business, he prepared us to get ready, to see something through and to enjoying the success when you do.”
Also among those attending was star wide receiver Rich McGeorge, who went on to play in the NFL for the Green Bay Packers. He spoke to the crowd of about 80 people along with Coach Jerry Tolley, who was one of Wilson’s assistant coaches and followed him as head coach.
Wilson’s wife, Katie, died on Dec. 26, 2020. Katie and Red were married for 72 years. Wilson is survived by his children: John Wilson (Deborah), Vass, NC; Cathy Wilson Koontz (Craig), Lexington, NC; Steve Wilson (Laura), Richmond, VA; grandchildren: Whitney Wilson-Botts, Erin Wilson, Catherine Koontz Rogers, MD (John), Wilson Koontz, Taylor Wilson (Rainey), and Carolyn Wilson; great-granddaughter, Ainsley Botts; niece, Martha Robertson Martin (Wallace) and four grandnieces/nephews.
In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to the:
Red Wilson Athletic Scholarship
Office of University Advancement
Elon University
Campus Box 2600
Elon, NC 27244
First Presbyterian Church Memorial Fund
508 W. Davis Street
Burlington, NC 27215