Darrell Wilson is in his first season on the Delaware State staff, appointed by head coach Lee Hull as defensive coordinator / safeties coach on Feb. 1, 2023. He has more than 22 years of collegiate coaching experience, including three at Big 10 institutions, each of which made bowl game appearances during his tenure.
Wilson most recently completed a four-year stint as an assistant at Wagner College of the FCS Northeast Conference, serving as defensive coordinator/ defensive backs coach the last two years. The previous 18 years, he was a Big 10 assistant coach at Rutgers (2013-15), Iowa (2002-12) and Wisconsin (2000-01). Iowa captured two Big 10 championships (2002, ’04) and appeared in nine bowl games while Wilson was on staff, including the Orange Bowl in 2003 and 2010. He primarily worked with linebackers and defensive backs, in addition to special teams during his years with the Hawkeyes. Defensive back Micah Hyde of the NFL’s Green Bay Packers played under Wilson while at Iowa. A fifth round NFL draft pick, Hyde was the 2012 Big 10 Defensive Back of the Year, in addition to earning First Team All-Big 10 honors. Also while at Iowa, Wilson was named by Rivals.con as one of the nations Top 25 Recruiters in 2011, and was a finalist for Football Scoop Linebackers Coach of the Year in 2009.
With Wilson on staff, Rutgers competed in the 2014 Quick Lane Bowl and 2013 Pinstripe Bowl, while Wisconsin appeared in the 2000 Sun Bowl. Wilson began his collegiate coaching career as an assistant at the University of Rhode Island in 1996.
Prior to embarking on his collegiate coaching career, Wilson compiled a 65-18 record (1988-95) as head coach at Woodrow Wilson High School in Camden, N.J., where his teams won five conference championships and four times advanced to the South Jersey Group III State Finals. He was a 2017 inductee into the South Jersey Football Coaches Hall of Fame.
Wilson was a standout player at the University of Connecticut from 1976-80. A member of Connecticut’s 100th Anniversary Team, he earned NCAA Division I-AA All-America Honorable Mention, in addition to All-New England, All-Yankee Conference, and All-ECAC First Team recognition during his career.
He also played professionally for one season with the NFL's New England Patriots (1981) and five with the Canadian Football League’s Toronto Argonauts (1982-86).
A native of Camden, N.J., Wilson graduated from the University of Connecticut with a degree in Sociology in 1981.
He and his wife, Monica, are the parents of four children, Brianna, Kayla, Kiana, and Jehlani.
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