Columbia University Athletics

 

Coaching Highlights 2006 In his first season at Columbia, led the Lions to their best record in a decade and Columbia’s defense was ranked 15th in the nation 2004 One of five finalists for the Frank Broyles Award as the nation’s top assistant coach 2004 UConn’s offense led the Big East in both total and scoring offense 2004 UConn defeated Toledo to win the Motor City Bowl 2004 Three members of his offensive unit went on to sign NFL contracts 2004 One of 12 coaches selected to participate in the NCAA Expert Coaching Program 2003 UConn’s offense ranked eighth in the nation (477.5 yards per game)

Norries Wilson begins his sixth year as Columbia's Patricia and Shepard Alexander Head Coach of Football after the Lions posted four or more wins in consecutive seasons for the first time since 1997-98.

Wilson, one of the top assistant coaches in the nation while at the University of Connecticut, became Columbia's 18^th head coach of football in December 2005.

Wilson's student-athletes have earned 28 All-Ivy League honors since 2006, including two Rookies of the Year and 11 first-team selections.

After a 4-6, 2-5 Ivy League season in 2010, Columbia had a total of eight student-athletes named All-Ivy League in football, the second most in school history.  Among the eight, five (Sean Brackett, Alex Gross, Andrew Kennedy, Calvin Otis, and Jeff Adams) were named to the first team, the most since 1994.

Brackett became Columbia's first quarterback since Jamie Schwalbe (1994) to be named first team All-Ivy League.

In 2009, Wilson led Columbia to a fourth-place finish in the Ivy League, the Lions' best league finish in six years.  Columbia also posted its most wins in six years. Eight Columbians were named to the All-Ivy League team, including defensive end Lou Miller, a unanimous first team selection, along with fellow first-teamers Austin Knowlin (wide receiver) and Jeff Adams (offensive lineman).

Wilson, who served as offensive coordinator at UConn for four seasons, was one of five finalists for the Frank Broyles Award as the nation's top assistant coach in 2004, a season in which the Huskies led the Big East in both total and scoring offense. In 2003, he guided UConn's offense that posted 477.5 yards per game, which ranked eighth in the nation.

In 2002, Wilson was promoted to the Huskies' offensive coordinator after joining the UConn staff in 1999 as offensive line coach. He continued to work specifically with the Huskies' centers and guards. In 2004, UConn defeated Toledo to win the Motor City Bowl. Three members of that team's offense went on to sign National Football League contracts.

Prior to the 2004 season, Wilson was one of 12 coaches selected to participate in the NCAA Expert Coaching Program. The program is designed to teach and reinforce various aspects of securing, managing and excelling in NCAA head coaching positions at the Division I-A level.

Before UConn, Wilson spent four seasons at Bucknell. He was the Bison's offensive line coach in 1995 and 1996 before a promotion to offensive coordinator in 1997 and 1998. He was also defensive coordinator at Livingstone College (1993), offensive line/tight ends coach at North Carolina Central (1991-92) and graduate assistant at his alma mater, the University of Minnesota (1989-90).

Wilson was a captain and two-year starter for the Gophers. In 1985, the team defeated Clemson to win the Independence Bowl and competed in the Liberty Bowl vs. Tennessee the following year. He was a three-year letterwinner in football, and earned two letters and qualified for the NCAA Championships as a heavyweight in wrestling. He graduated from Minnesota in 1989 with a degree in psychology.

In addition to his college coaching experience, Wilson has served minority coaching fellowships in the NFL with the Kansas City Chiefs (1992), the Jacksonville Jaguars (1995) and the Indianapolis Colts (2000).

A native of Markham Ill., where he attended Thornwood High School, Wilson is married to the former Brenda Marquis, who played forward on UConn's first women's basketball national championship team. The couple has three children: a son, Cecil, and two daughters, Trinity and Sahara.