Saluki GA Drew Wilson fulfills lifelong dream to coach football
- Tom Weber
- 7 hours ago
- 5 min read
CARBONDALE, Ill. — Drew Wilson, the newest grad assistant on the Saluki Football staff, said he’s wanted to be a football coach since he was old enough to watch the sport on TV.
Growing up in the small town of Adairsville, Georgia, Wilson watched Florida State football with his father and idolized FSU coaches Bobby Bowden and Jimbo Fisher. He would eagerly anticipate his Dec. 31 birthday, knowing his dad would get them tickets to see the Seminoles play in their bowl games.
“My friends ask me what I do outside the office?” Wilson said. “The answer is, nothing. I do football.”
As an all-state linebacker at Adairsville High School, Wilson already had the coaching itch.
“I would come into the coaches offices after practice and offer to help with the game plan,” he said. “They were a little iffy about it, but they listened to me. I wasn't the most athletic guy, but I understood the game.”
Wilson played four seasons at Division III Illinois College, but quickly realized he wasn’t on a track to play in the NFL.
“I thought I was gonna come in as a freshman and be an All-American, and I got to play special teams my freshman year,” he said. “Then the injuries built up.”
Knee and shoulder injuries derailed his college career, resulting in Wilson playing just seven games.
“I was never really healthy, but at the same time, that helped me progress as a young man,” he explained. “Everybody wants to be on the field, but sometimes you gotta play your role. That's a big thing I take into my coaching career. I want everybody to find their role. Not everybody can be an All-American quarterback like DJ Williams, but you can find a role and contribute to winning.”
Fresh out of college last spring, Wilson landed a job at Division II Upper Iowa, where he was the grad assistant for head coach Jason Hoskins and helped him coach defensive backs. Hoskins frequently allowed Wilson to lead individual drills.
“I wanted to coach DBs because I have aspirations to be a college DC (defensive coordinator),” Wilson said. “Playing linebacker all my life, I understand the D-line and linebacker role, but I didn't understand coverage. I knew what a linebacker did in cover four, but what kind of steps are the safeties taking? What are the corners doing? I dove into it.”
After the 2025 season, Hoskins, who had been a GA on Dale Lennon’s staff at Southern Illinois from 2008-09, helped Wilson land the grad assistant job at SIU.
At Southern, Wilson often arrives to work at 5:30 a.m. and puts in 14-hour days. He primarily assists linebackers coach Tom Rebholz, but helps all of the defensive staff by preparing call sheets, breaking down practice film and entering player grades.
“My job is just to make their day easier,” Wilson said. “I'm here to make their job as easy as possible, and to show that I belong in this profession.”
On the field, Wilson is active in drills and helps signal in plays to the defense.
“When I got here, I thought I'm not gonna get to do as much as I did at Upper Iowa, but Coach (Reb) is awesome,” Wilson said. “Everybody has this coach during their career that really influenced them. He's already started to become that for me. I've gotten to do some individual drills, and I did not have any expectations for that. He's teaching me just like he's teaching the other linebackers.”
Wilson also had high praise for Saluki defensive coordinator Lee Pronschinske.
“He's a genius,” Wilson declared. “I’ve never seen somebody look at the game with the focus that he has. He obviously runs a 4-3 system, which I've never been in before. Just seeing how he runs it is beautiful. It's amazing.”
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Practice 10 Notebook
The Salukis practiced for nearly two-and-a-half hours on Monday night, ending just shy of 7:30 p.m. After practice, LB Chris Presto led the team in singing “Happy Birthday” to Coach Hill, who turned 41 on Sunday. Equipment manager Jacqueline Crain handed Hill a cupcake while the team sang.
Strength coach Meade Smith and director of operations Chris Gillespie cooked out for the players, giving them burgers and brats after practice.
