Written By: Yusuf Almansi
Most people leave high school with a diploma, some memories and maybe a yearbook they’ll never open again. Coach Wilson left Austin High School as a Bulldog, only to find himself right back where he started 20 years later.
Except this time, he isn’t carrying a backpack. He’s coaching the team.
“It’s a huge blessing,” Wilson said. “This community raised me, and having an opportunity to give back to the community that raised me is a once in a lifetime opportunity that I’m definitely not taking for granted.”
For Wilson, almost every corner of Austin comes with a memory. The classrooms? He sat in them. The weight room? He lifted there. The practice field his players sweat on every day? He played there too. Even some of the teachers are familiar faces. The equipment, though, got an upgrade.
“I see myself walking these hallways, just like the students, back when I did 20 years ago,” Wilson said.
Twenty years can change a lot. When Wilson was at Austin, Travis High School had just opened its doors, and it was Kempner who was one of the Bulldogs’ biggest rivals. Today, the rivalry has shifted, but Wilson says Austin’s diversity and community still make it feel like the school he remembers. Now he wants to change something himself: the culture of Austin football. His plan can be summed up in five letters, DAWGS: Discipline, Accountability, Work, Grit and Sacrifice. He even added the “S” because, as he puts it, there isn’t just one dog out there.
“We’re one team,” Wilson said. “We have to work together as a team.”
And being a DAWG doesn’t end when the scoreboard hits zero. Wilson wants players who handle business in the classroom, represent Austin in the hallways and show character when no coach is watching. He reminds them that cleats eventually get hung up and every athlete plays a final game. That is why graduation, academics and becoming good people are part of his program just as much as tackles and touchdowns. His message to his players is to get one percent better every day, because he knows firsthand how quickly those four years disappear. Twenty years ago, Wilson was one of the kids sitting in Austin’s classrooms. Now he gets to help decide what the next generation of Bulldogs takes with them when they leave.
“Every day I try to empty the tank and give it my all to these kids,” Wilson said. “If I can make a positive impact in this community and just be a light in this community at the school, then I’ve done my job.”
