ABILENE – Jerry Wilson, one of the most beloved and humble figures in the history of ACU athletics, died peacefully Tuesday afternoon after a brief battle with cancer. He was 69.
Wilson's funeral arrangements are being handled by Hamil Family Funeral Home with the visitation set for Monday from 5-7 p.m. at Hamil Family ((6449 Buffalo Gap Rd, Abilene) with the funeral set for Tuesday at 1 p.m. at Hillcrest Church of Christ. Graveside services will follow the funeral at Elmwood Memorial Park, 5750 Highway 277 South in Abilene.
Affectionately known as "Wolfie," Wilson spent 27 seasons as an assistant football coach at ACU and spent most of that time as the defensive coordinator, coaching some of the finest defenses to ever play for ACU. Wilson – who was inducted into the ACU Sports Hall of Fame in October 2013 – coached at ACU for a total of 27 years over two different time periods (1972-90 and 2000-07). He was also a three-year letterman at ACU from 1968-70 and served as the head baseball coach from 1973-75.
He was an assistant coach on the NAIA Division I national championship team in 1973 and the defensive coordinator the national championship team in 1977.
"Coach Wilson got us prepared for each and every game we played," former ACU linebacker Ray Nunez said. "He was meticulous and left no stone unturned. I am grateful for the time and effort he put in and he was a major factor in any and all successes I experienced as a football player at Abilene Christian."
Nunez was a key cog in Wilson's defenses from 1974-77, helping the Wildcats go 9-2 in 1976 when they pitched four straight shutouts late in the season and beat Harding, 22-12, in the Shrine Bowl. He was then one of the key players in Wilson's 1977 defense that helped the Wildcats to the program's second national championship in five seasons.
During his first tenure as the defensive coordinator, ACU produced three first team, three second team and two third team all-America players. He formed a special bond with hundreds of players throughout his tenure at ACU, relationships that still existed with most of them until he passed away earlier this week.
"Jerry was a player's coach in the truest sense of that term," former ACU head coach
Wally Bullington said of Wilson. "He loved ACU, and he never lost that love. He was loyal to wherever he worked, and for whomever he worked. He was one of the most dedicated, hardest-working coaches I ever coached with. He was a special man, and we're all going to miss him."
But it was his relationship with former all-America running back Wilbert Montgomery that transcended friendship.
"Jerry Wilson was truly my 'brother from another mother,' " Montgomery said. "We spent so much time riding up and down the highways together just talking about life. When people ask me to define a 'player's coach,' I always think of Jerry. He could speak to us on a different level. His wife, Diane, became like a sister to me, and their children (Greg and Jimmy) became like my nephews.
In an interview about Montgomery in December 2016,Wilson remembered without hesitation how many miles it was from his ACU to Montgomery's house in Greenville, Miss.
"Six-hundred-one miles … exactly," Wilson recalled when thinking about the numerous trips he made with Montgomery in the early 1970s. "I made that drive every Thanksgiving and Christmas when Wilbert was at ACU so he could go home for the holidays."
Wilson made those drives with Montgomery and other members of the Montgomery family, even though he had his own family at home in Abilene enjoying the holidays without him.
"Those drives back and forth were special to me," Montgomery said. "Every time we passed through Dallas he would point out the Texas School Book Depository where Lee Harvey Oswald assassinated President (John) Kennedy. I asked him every time how many times he was going to show me that. After a while I think he did it just to get under my skin. I think about those drives a lot, especially now when I'm taking my kids different places. I think about Jerry driving me and (younger brother) Cle (Montgomery) up and down the road and leaving his family behind. These were holidays and the time he gave up to make sure that we were happy tells you everything you need to know about Jerry Wilson."
Wilson was born February 25, 1948, to Sidney Lutrel Wilson and wife Mary Ida Kidd Wilson at Fort Baker Army Hospital in Sausalito, Calif. He graduated from Big Spring High School in Texas in 1966. He earned a bachelor's degree from then-Abilene Christian College in 1971 and later a master's degree in education from ACU. During his college years, he was a varsity football player and letterman. It was also during these years that he met and married Diane Stevens on June 14, 1969.
Aside from the years he spent at ACU, Wilson spent five years at San Angelo Central High School, four years at Abilene High School, five years at Amarillo Caprock High School, and one year at Graham High School. He loved coaching so much that he often stated he "had never worked a day in his life."
Wilson was equally proud and honored to be able to participate in numerous mission trips to the Rio Grande Valley and to Mexico to build church buildings with groups from Johnson Street Church of Christ in San Angelo and Hillcrest Church of Christ in Abilene and act as the group's Spanish interpreter.
Wilson was a member of Hillcrest Church of Christ in Abilene for many years where he served as a youth deacon and care group leader. He also was a member of Johnson Street Church of Christ in San Angelo and The Colonies Church of Christ in Amarillo when he coached in those cities.
Wilson is survived by his wife of 48 years, Diane; sons Greg (wife Elizabeth) of Abilene, and Jimmy (wife Jennifer) of Harlingen; and grandchildren August, Nathan, Wilder, Zoe, and Eli Wilson; brothers Tom (Diane) of Bedford, Va., and Bruce (Alexa) of Manassas, Va., and brother-in-law Norman Nunn.
He was preceded in death by his parents Sidney and Mary Wilson and sister, Gloria Nunn.
Memorial contributions may be made to United Way of Abilene, P.O. Box 82, Abilene, 79604, or Sunny Glen Children's Home, P. O. Box 1373, San Benito, Texas, 78586, or the Jerry Wilson Football Endowment, ACU Box 29132, Abilene, 79699.
