UNDER THE BANNER
What's Going On In and Around Black College Sports
TEXAS TWO-STEP: Texas Southern
has named Howard grad and former Bison head man
Steve Wilson as its new head football coach meaning that both
Houston-area Southwestern Athletic Conference
schools TSU and Prairie View A&M
have plucked their new coaches from the same
Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association
pot. In the SWAC, Wilson will join former Bowie State
head coach Henry Frazier III who signed on as
the new head coach at Prairie View in late December. Wilson
served his first year under Frazier this season as the Bulldogs' defensive coordinator. In
choosing Wilson, TSU Athletic Director Alois
Blackwell was picking a person he knows well. The two were NFL teammates on
the 1979 Dallas Cowboys and have stayed in contact.
Blackwell is hoping Wilson can duplicate the success he enjoyed in
a ten-year NFL career and a 13-year tenure as Howard's
head coach that ended in 2001. Wilson, 46, a
record-breaking receiver while at Howard, enjoyed a productive NFL
career as a defensive back with Dallas and Denver. After
his retirement, he took over at Howard and won the
Mid Eastern Athletic Conference coach of the year award after
leading the Bison to an 8-3 mark in his first season (1989). In
1993, Wilson's squad, led by quarterback Jay
Walker, posted a perfect 11-0 regular season mark, won the school's only
Mid Eastern Athletic Conference title before losing in the
first round of the NCAA Div. I-AA playoffs to eventual
national champion, Marshall. The Bison were selected as black
college national champions in '93 and again in '96 after
defeating Southern at the Heritage Bowl. Wilson left as the
winningest coach in Howard history with a 77-67 record "We want to
be a championship football team at Texas Southern, and
Steve Wilson certainly has championship credentials,"
Blackwell said. "We're excited about those things." Wilson is
also excited. "The city of Houston is a tremendous sports
town, look at the venues and support," Wilson said. "You want
to be part of something like that. Any time you go in as a
college coach and have such a fertile recruiting area, that's the
key. The key in this business is acquisition of talent. I think
we'll get the kind of talent to have a chance to be successful
against the teams we'll play." Wilson takes over from
Bill Thomas, who resigned last month after 10 years at TSU. The
Tigers finished 5-6 last season.
© 2004 Azeez Communications, Inc.