SAN ANTONIO – UTSA football coach Frank Wilson was easy to pick out in the crowd at Friday night’s Edison-Central Catholic football scrimmage at Benson ’66 Stadium.
Sitting in a top row and wearing an orange UTSA shirt, Wilson was no different than any other proud father as he watched his youngest son, Frank IV, only a freshman, get on the field with the Central varsity. He played quarterback and lined up at cornerback on defense, showing promise at both positions with his speed and athletic ability.
“It’s nice to know that somebody’s watching, especially my dad, being at the level he’s at,” Frank IV said afterward.
Coach Wilson watched the scrimmage with his daughter, Alaina. The youngest of Tiffany and Frank Wilson’s three children, Frank IV left no doubt about what he thinks of his new school.
“I love it, I love it,” he said. “It’s a brotherhood.”
Central Catholic began classes Monday and opens its season at home against Kennedy next Friday night.
Coach Wilson is in his first season at UTSA after being hired to succeed Larry Coker in mid-January. He was an assistant coach at LSU for six seasons and also was the Tigers’ recruiting coordinator before landing his first head-coaching job in San Antonio.
Wilson, 42, left the stadium immediately after the last play of the scrimmage.
“Just excited for him to have an opportunity where he’s enjoying himself with the transition,” Wilson said. “You always worry about that as a parent when you move from one city, or one state, to another. The Central Catholic community has been fantastic. He’s enjoying his friends. He’s met new friends. The things that Central Catholic offer for him academically, socially and spiritually are second to none, so we’re just excited about the opportunity.”
Wilson said that he and his wife chose Central Catholic for their youngest child’s high school “because it was the just the right fit for him. It was what we were looking for from a spiritual component, from an academic component. The football just happened to be fantastic as well.”
Wilson was asked how watching his son play compares with coaching an entire team.
“I’m relaxed. I’m just here to support him, and I just sit in the stands and be a parent and enjoy him, encourage both he and his teammates,” Wilson said.
UTSA kicks off its sixth season against Alabama State on September 3 at the Alamodome. Kickoff is at 6 p.m.
