Football
Oct 4 (Sat)
5:30 p.m.
- Title:
- Assistant Coach
Chris Wilson is in his fifth year at CU, as he joined the Buffalo staff as defensive line coach on May 26, 2000. He became only the second full-time coach hired at the school after the conclusion of spring football since 1982. He also coaches the field goal and PAT defensive unit on special teams.
Wilson, 35, came to CU from Army, where he had joined the Cadet staff in January, 2000, as defensive line coach when Todd Berry replaced Bob Sutton as head coach following Sutton’s dismissal in December. Wilson had spent the 1998 and 1999 seasons with Berry at Illinois State. The Redbirds advanced to the NCAA I-AA semifinals in 1999, finishing with an 11-3 record and a 6-0 league mark to win the Gateway Conference title.
A four-year letterman at linebacker for Oklahoma between 1988-91, he recorded 303 tackles, a number that still stands as 14th best in Sooner history. He had 104 tackles as a sophomore, 86 as a junior, despite missing two-plus games to injury, and posted 97 as a senior. He was a preseason nominee for the ’91 Butkus Award. Wilson earned second-team all-Big Eight honors three times and was a third-team All-America selection as a junior by the Football News. A two-time team captain, he graduated from OU with a degree in communications in 1992.
Ironically, some of his top career games came against Colorado, as he had 11 tackles, a pass broken up and a forced fumble in the ’89 game in Norman won by CU, 20-3; he was OU’s Big Eight defensive player-of-the-week nomination. He had nine tackles in the 1990 game in Boulder and led the Sooners with eight stops in the ’91 contest, both games again won by the Buffs. He played for both Barry Switzer and Gary Gibbs at Oklahoma, and played in three bowl games.
The Chicago Bears drafted him in the 12th round in 1992, but eventually did not make the final roster. He entered the coaching ranks in 1993 as a graduate assistant at Indiana State, and was then hired by the Sycamores full-time in the spring of 1994 to tutor the inside linebackers. He moved on to Northern Illinois in 1995, coaching the outside linebackers and coordinating the team’s nickel package. He was the defensive coordinator and line coach for Northeastern Oklahoma A & M in 1996, and then returned to Indiana State for the 1997 season as outside linebackers coach and recruiting coordinator before joining Berry at Illinois State and then Army. He has also had three minority internships with NFL teams, Dallas (1995), Arizona (1997) and Miami (1998).
Wilson was born January 8, 1969 in Dallas, Texas, and graduated from Richardson (Texas) High School, where he lettered in football and track. He is married to the former Tina Brown, a schoolteacher, and they have two children, son Caleb (8) and daughter Colby (4). His hobbies include collecting old music, particularly jazz.
