Wilson David Matthews (July 18, 1921 – May 12, 2002) was 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. He became a high school coaching legend in the state of

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

after winning 10 state championships and producing a 33-win streak in 11 years at

Little Rock Central High School Little Rock Central High School (LRCHS) is an accredited comprehensive education, comprehensive public high school in Little Rock, Arkansas, Little Rock, Arkansas, Secondary education in the United States, United States. The school was the Littl ...

. He later became an assistant to

Frank Broyles John Franklin Broyles (December 26, 1924 – August 14, 2017) was an American college football player and coach, college athletics administrator, and broadcaster. He served as the head football coach for one season at the University of Missour ...

at the

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and the largest university in the state. Founded as Arkansas ...

. Born and raised in rural

Atkins, Arkansas Atkins is a city in Pope County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 3,016 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Russellville Micropolitan Statistical Area. Geography Atkins is located at (35.243485, -92.938212). According to the Unit ...

, Matthews attended local Atkins High School, where he played varsity football under coach Raymond Burnett and was a two-time All-State selection. Matthews went on to play at

Arkansas Tech University Arkansas Tech University (ATU) is a public university in Russellville, Arkansas. The university offers programs at both baccalaureate and graduate levels in a range of fields. The Arkansas Tech University–Ozark Campus, a two-year satellite cam ...

, where he was an All-

Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference The Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference (AIC) was an athletic conference in existence from 1927 or 1928 to 1995 affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). The conference membership consisted entirely of colleges ...

(AIC) honoree in 1940 and 1941. He continued his playing career at the

for one year under George Cole. In 1943, Matthews was drafted for military service and assigned to the Monticello A&M V-12 Program, where he played with the Monticello Marine-Navy team. He earned his bachelor's degree and his master's in education from Arkansas. Matthews also served his country in the U.S. Marine Corps during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. In 1944 Matthews became head coach at Rogers High School in

Rogers, Arkansas Rogers is a city in Benton County, Arkansas, United States. Located in the Ozarks, it is part of the Northwest Arkansas region, one of the fastest growing metro areas in the country. Rogers was the location of the first Walmart store, whose corpo ...

. After a single season, finished with a 7–3 record, Matthews left Rogers for the

Little Rock High School Little Rock Central High School (LRCHS) is an accredited comprehensive public high school in Little Rock, Arkansas, United States. The school was the site of forced desegregation in 1957 after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that segregation by ...

, where he became an assistant to his former high school coach Raymond Burnett. As Burnett moved on to coach

, Matthews was named head coach, taking over one of the premier high school football programs in the nations. The Little Rock Central Tigers had won the mythical national championship in 1946. Matthew's first Tiger teams went 12–0–1 in 1947 and 9–1–1 in 1948. His next two teams finished 10–1 and 10–2. In 1951, his team was 9–3 but a one-point loss to

North Little Rock North Little Rock is a city in Pulaski County, Arkansas, across the Arkansas from Little Rock in the central part of the state. The population was 64,591 at the 2020 census. In 2019 the estimated population was 65,903, making it the seventh-mo ...

that season was the last defeat a Matthews-coached Central team had against competition from Arkansas. The Tigers were undefeated in the state the next six years. Matthews led the Tigers to unbeaten seasons in 1956 and 1957, and left the school with a 33-game winning streak. His 1957 team won the schools second mythical national championship. Matthews joined the

Razorbacks in January 1958, coaching the

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

s and

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

s at Arkansas before taking administrative duties in 1969. He continued to coach the freshmen until being named assistant athletic director in 1973. As a varsity coach, Matthews coached two All-Americans and eight All-Southwest Conference players. During his tenure the Hogs appeared in eight bowl games. Matthews served as an assistant and then associate athletic director until 1992 when he assumed the title of associate athletic director emeritus. Matthews was inducted to the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame in 1971.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Matthews, Wilson 1921 births 2002 deaths American football fullbacks American football linebackers American football quarterbacks Arkansas Razorbacks football coaches Arkansas Razorbacks football players Arkansas Tech Wonder Boys football players High school football coaches in Arkansas People from Pope County, Arkansas Players of American football from Arkansas United States Marine Corps personnel of World War II