Norries Wilson is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

coach and former player. He was the running backs coach of the

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's ...

Scarlet Knights football team, but was let go in 2015. He was the first

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

head football coach in the

Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate athletic conference comprising eight private research universities in the Northeastern United States. The term ''Ivy League'' is typically used beyond the sports context to refer to the eight schools ...

with the

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

team. He also has coached at

Bucknell University Bucknell University is a private liberal arts college in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1846 as the University at Lewisburg, it now consists of the College of Arts and Sciences, Freeman College of Management, and the College of Engineering. ...

Livingstone College Livingstone College is a private, historically black Christian college in Salisbury, North Carolina. It is affiliated with the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church. Livingstone College is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Sout ...

North Carolina Central University North Carolina Central University (NCCU or NC Central) is a public historically black university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by James E. Shepard in affiliation with the Chautauqua movement in 1909, it was supported by private funds from b ...

, was an offensive co-coordinator at

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

and was a graduate assistant at Minnesota. A 1989 graduate of the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

, Wilson was a

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

, two-year starter and three-year letterwinner for the Gophers. He also earned two

letters Letter, letters, or literature may refer to: Characters typeface * Letter (alphabet), a character representing one or more of the sounds used in speech; any of the symbols of an alphabet. * Letterform, the graphic form of a letter of the alphabe ...

wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...

, and qualified for the NCAA Championships as a

heavyweight Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling. Boxing Professional Boxers who weigh over are considered heavyweights by 3 of the 4 major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation, the Wo ...

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 An offensive coordinator is a member of the coaching staff of an American football or Canadian football team who is in charge of the team's offense. Generally, along with the defensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator, this coach re ...

at the

University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from Hart ...

. In 2004, he was a finalist for the

Frank Broyles Award The Broyles Award is an annual award given to honor the best assistant coach in college football. First awarded in 1996, it was named after former University of Arkansas men's athletic director Frank Broyles. The award is presented in Little ...

as the nation's top assistant coach. With a victory over the

Fordham Rams The Fordham Rams are the varsity sports teams for Fordham University. Their colors are maroon and white. The Fordham Rams are members of NCAA Division I and compete in the Atlantic 10 Conference for most sports. In football, the Rams play in t ...

in the 2006

Liberty Cup The Liberty Cup is a trophy awarded to the winner of the college football game between Columbia University and Fordham University, two National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I football programs in New York City. The cup was a ...

, 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 A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actual halls or muse ...

Lou Little Luigi "Lou Little" Piccirilli December 6, 1891 – May 28, 1979) was an American football player and coach born in Boston, Massachusetts. City of Boston, Birth Registrations, number 8583, December 6, 1891After Lou's birth, his father changed his ...

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 Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

. A 22–21 season-ending win at

Brown Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing or painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors orange and black. In the RGB color model used ...

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.

Rutgers

After departing Columbia in 2011, Wilson was hired as a running backs coach and associate head coach by the

. Rutgers had hired

Kyle Flood Kyle J. Flood (born January 20, 1971) is an American football coach and former player. He is currently the offensive coordinator and offensive line coach for the Texas Longhorns football team. He is also the former head football coach of the Ru ...

as head coach after the departure of

Greg Schiano Gregory Edward Schiano (born June 1, 1966) is an American football coach. He is the head football coach at Rutgers University, a position he held from 2001 to 2011 and resumed before the 2020 season. Schiano served as the head coach for the Tampa ...

to the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...

. In September 2015, Rutgers University officials suspended Flood for three games after an investigation into whether he improperly contacted a professor regarding a player's academic status and athletic eligibility. During Flood's suspension, Wilson filled in as interim head coach.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

''New Jersey Advance Media (nj.com)'', September 16, 2015. Retrieved September 20, 2015. Playing in

State College, Pennsylvania State College is a home rule municipality in Centre County in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is a college town, dominated economically, culturally and demographically by the presence of the University Park campus of the Pennsylvania Sta ...

, on September 19, Rutgers was trounced by the

Penn State Nittany Lions The Penn State Nittany Lions are the athletic teams of Pennsylvania State University, except for the women's basketball team, known as the Lady Lions. The school colors are navy blue and white. The school mascot is the Nittany Lion. The interco ...

, losing by a score of 28–3. The following week, on September 26, Rutgers defeated the visiting

Kansas Jayhawks The Kansas Jayhawks, commonly referred to as simply KU or Kansas, are the athletic teams that represent the University of Kansas. KU is one of three schools in the state of Kansas that participate in NCAA Division I. The Jayhawks are also a mem ...

, 27–14. On October 10, Rutgers was defeated at home by

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It i ...

, 31–24, in his final game as interim head coach. Wilson took responsibility for the quarterback spiking the ball on a fourth down play against Michigan State in 2015. Although he did not instruct the quarterback to do so.

Minnesota

During the 2020 season, Wilson stepped in as interim-Offensive Line coach for the Gopher's game against Purdue University. Minnesota went on to win the game 34-31.

Head coaching record

References

External links

Minnesota profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Norries Year of birth missing (living people) 1960s births Living people American football offensive linemen Bucknell Bison football coaches Columbia Lions football coaches UConn Huskies football coaches Livingstone Blue Bears football coaches Minnesota Golden Gophers football coaches Minnesota Golden Gophers football players Minnesota Golden Gophers wrestlers North Carolina Central Eagles football coaches Rutgers Scarlet Knights football coaches People from Markham, Illinois African-American coaches of American football African-American players of American football 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople