Football coach and player. He served as the head football coach at Elon University for 1967 to 1976 and at Duke University from 1979 to 1982, compiling a career college football record of 88–61–3.

Wilson was born in 1925 in Madison, NC. He played football at Davidson College. Prior to coaching at Elon, he coached football at RJR.  Wilson compiled a 71–35–2 (.667) record at Elon. His 71 wins are the most of any coach in the history of the Phoenix program.  In three of his final four seasons at Elon, his teams won 10 or more games. At Duke, Wilson compiled a 16–27–1 record. He was a member of the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame and the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County High School Sports Hall of Fame.