Norries Wilson
| Sport(s) | Football |
|---|---|
| Biographical details | |
| Born |
1964/1965 (age 51–52) Markham, Illinois |
| Playing career | |
| 1985–1988 | Minnesota |
| Position(s) | Offensive lineman |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1989–1990 | Minnesota (GA) |
| 1991–1992 | North Carolina Central (OL/TE) |
| 1993 | Livingstone (DC) |
| 1995–1996 | Bucknell (OL) |
| 1997–1998 | Bucknell (OC) |
| 1999–2001 | Connecticut (OL) |
| 2002–2005 | Connecticut (OC) |
| 2006–2011 | Columbia |
| 2012–2015 | Rutgers (RB) |
| 2015 | Rutgers (Interim HC) |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 18–44 |
Norries Wilson is an American football coach and former player. He was the running backs coach of the Rutgers University Scarlet Knights football team, but was let go in 2015. He previously served as the first African-American head football coach in the Ivy League with the Columbia University football team.[1]
He also has coached at Bucknell University, Livingstone College, North Carolina Central University, and was a graduate assistant at Minnesota.
A 1989 graduate of the University of Minnesota, Wilson was a captain, two-year starter and three-year letterwinner for the Gophers. He also earned two letters in wrestling, and qualified for the NCAA Championships as a heavyweight.
Coaching career
Columbia
Wilson was hired at Columbia following the 2005 season, during which the Lions finished 0–7 in the Ivy League, 2–8 overall.
Wilson joined Columbia after four years as offensive coordinator at the University of Connecticut. In 2004, he was a finalist for the Frank Broyles Award as the nation's top assistant coach.
With a victory over the Fordham Rams in the 2006 Liberty Cup, he became the first Columbia head football coach since Aldo T. "Buff" Donelli in 1957 to win his debut. When the Lions beat Georgetown the following week, he became the first since Hall of Famer Lou Little to start his career 2–0.
During his first season, Columbia ended a 16-game Ivy League losing streak with a 21–14 victory over Cornell. A 22–21 season-ending win at Brown gave the Lions their first consecutive league victories since 2003.
The Light Blue finished Wilson's inaugural campaign with those two league wins and a 5–5 record overall. It was the first time in a decade that the Lions had finished at .500, and it gave Wilson the highest career winning percentage among Columbia coaches since Charlie Crowley led the team to a 26–16–4 record from 1925 to 1929.
Wilson finished his six seasons at Columbia with a record of 10–32 in Ivy League play and 17–43 overall.
He was relieved of his position by Columbia Athletic Director Diane Murphy on Sunday, November 20, 2011, following a 1–9 season.[2]
Rutgers
After departing Columbia in 2011, Wilson was hired as a running backs coach and associate head coach by the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. Rutgers had hired Kyle Flood as head coach after the departure of Greg Schiano to the National Football League's Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In 2015, Wilson was in his fourth season with the Scarlet Knights.
In September 2015, Rutgers University officials suspended Head Coach Kyle Flood for three games after an investigation into whether Flood improperly contacted a professor regarding a player's academic status and athletic eligibility. During Flood's suspension, Wilson filled-in as the Scarlet Knights' interim head coach for games against Penn State, Kansas, and Michigan State (home on October 10, 2015).[3][4] Playing in State College, Pennsylvania, on September 19, 2015, Rutgers was trounced by the Penn State Nittany Lions, losing with a score of 28 to 3. The following week, on September 26, 2015, Rutgers defeated the visiting Kansas Jayhawks, 27 to 14. On October 10, 2015 Rutgers was defeated at home vs. Michigan State 31-24 in his final game as Interim Head Coach.
Head coaching record
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Columbia Lions (Ivy League) (2006–2011) | |||||||||
| 2006 | Columbia | 5–5 | 2–5 | 6th | |||||
| 2007 | Columbia | 1–9 | 0–7 | 8th | |||||
| 2008 | Columbia | 2–8 | 2–5 | 6th | |||||
| 2009 | Columbia | 4–6 | 3–4 | 4th | |||||
| 2010 | Columbia | 4–6 | 2–5 | 6th | |||||
| 2011 | Columbia | 1–9 | 1–6 | 8th | |||||
| Columbia: | 17–43 | 10–32 | |||||||
| Rutgers Scarlet Knights (Big Ten Conference) (2015) | |||||||||
| 2015 | Rutgers | 1–2 | 0–2 | ||||||
| Rutgers: | 1–2 | 0–2 | |||||||
| Total: | 18–45 | ||||||||
References
- ↑ Columbia Hires a Coach From UConn
- ↑ Novak, Jake. "Where's Jake?". Roar Lions Blog. Retrieved July 6, 2012.
- ↑ Dan Bieler, "Rutgers football coach Kyle Flood suspended, fined for interventions with academic staff", The Washington Post, September 16, 2015. Retrieved September 20, 2015.
- ↑ Saed Hindash, "Rutgers football coach Kyle Flood suspended three games", New Jersey Advance Media (nj.com), September 16, 2015. Retrieved September 20, 2015.