GC hires Jason Wilson as new football coach
Jason Wilson, seated left, was announced as Greene Central’s new football coach Tuesday after working as a defensive backs coach over the past two seasons with the Rams. Sitting next to Wilson is his son, Jason Wilson II, and standing next to Wilson is, from left, mother Helen E. Wilson, former North Johnston football player Quamel Kenyon, Wilson’s wife, Athena, and father-in-law, Larry Cannon. Photo by Junious Smith III / Neuse News
By Junious Smith III
SNOW HILL — Jason Wilson wasn't going to waste time.
Greene Central announced its new football coach Tuesday in a press conference at 2:30 p.m., with Wilson leading the Rams into their first Spring practice about an hour later. Considering his laurels, this was no surprise to anyone.
“My mentality the entire time has been about going to work,” Wilson said. “I have the opportunity to put my imprint on the program and it starts with handling our business and keeping the winning trend going.”
Wilson inherits a Rams program after Allen Wooten led it for six years, guiding the team to 39 victories and a playoff birth each season. Wilson spent the past two as a defensive backs coach for Greene Central, but has an extensive resume in the sport.
After graduating from Princeton High School in 1996, Wilson played football at North Carolina A&T before coaching middle school football for six years in Guilford County. Wilson was the junior varsity head coach at Kinston High for a season before coaching at North Johnston for seven years in various positions, including an assistant defensive coordinator for the varsity team and was the head men’s track coach for four years. Wilson also spent three years at Goldsboro High as the junior varsity head coach and defensive coordinator, along with one season as the track coach.
As he prepares for his first head coaching position, Wilson said he will analyze his options and look to put together a strong squad for the 2019 season.
“I’m going to work on what Coach Wooten implemented and keep it going,” Wilson said. “We’ll spend more time in the weight room and try to make the guys as strong as humanly possible—we want to be the toughest team in the area. We’ll also evaluate the guys we have left. There’s still plenty of talent here, and we’ll get a better look during Spring ball.”
Wooten, who recently took the head coaching position at Havelock, said Greene Central made a great decision in hiring Wilson.
“Keeping it in-house is great for the kids in the transition stage and we had some quality candidates on the staff,” Wooten said. “We wanted to get him from Goldsboro years ago because we knew he was going to be a great coach from the way people talked about him — he was respected highly as a person and he’ll be a great role model for the student-athletes. He knows the game of football and I believe he’ll have great success with the program.”
Delmus Willis, who will be the new offensive coordinator at Greene Central after working as the quarterback coach last year, said he’s excited about the future.
“When Jay first got here, we talked about this jokingly, but after Allen made his announcement, we had lunch together and just asked ‘what if,’” Willis said. “Well, that ‘what if’ happened, and it should be a fun year.”
