Damon Wilson Hired to Restore Morgan State Football

Morgan State finally landed a winning head coach for its football program.

Morgan State's football program received a tremendous boost with the hiring of Bowie State's championship-winning head coach Damon Wilson. The Bears' former head coach Tyrone Wheatley jettisoned the program to accept a position as running backs coach with the Denver Broncos. Wheatley struggled to deliver a winning team at Morgan State and left with a 5-18 overall record, 3-10 in the MEAC.  

RESTORATION OF MORGAN STATE ATHLETICS

Morgan State was without someone guiding its athletic programs until they hired Dena Freeman-Patton to become the Vice President and Director for Intercollegiate Athletics. On June 1, she will become the first woman in the institution's 155-year history to oversee the athletic department.

Hiring Damon Wilson as head coach for her and President David K Wilson was a coup. Morgan State shared a MEAC championship in 2014 and has not won an outright MEAC title since 1979. The only other season the Bears have won was in 1971.

DAMON WILSON IS A WINNER

Wilson is a winner and should have interviewed for multiple openings in the SWAC, MEAC, FCS, or Division II over the years. The former Bulldogs coach compiled an 89-45 record at Bowie State in thirteen seasons, earning four NCAA Division II playoff trips. The 2021 American Football Coaches Association Division II Coach of the Year fielded three-consecutive CIAA football championship teams ( 2021, 2019, and 2018) and won the conference's Northern Division five times in 2009, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019, and 2021.

Morgan State is somewhat behind the eight ball on its current recruiting efforts with the late hiring of Damon Wilson. However, expect him to utilize the NCAA transfer portal and his recruiting connections to flip talent to Morgan State.  Some of his loyal Bowie State players may chose to follow Wilson.

I believe that with Wilson's track record for recruiting highly-touted football players and assembling a solid coaching staff, Morgan State is in competent hands to have a consistently winning football program. His relationship with Freeman-Patton will be critical for developing the Bears' football in the coming years.  

ABOUT DAMON WILSON

Coach Wilson gave the following statement regarding his hiring at Morgan State:

"Thank you to President Wilson and Ms. Freeman-Patton for presenting me with this opportunity to lead such a storied football program as its next head coach," said Coach Wilson. "Morgan is a great university in a great position to grow. I look forward to working with the student-athletes to build on the University's legacy as well as engaging with the alumni and other supporters of the program to ensure that our student-athletes have the support needed for them to be successful on and off the playing field." 

Coach Damon Wilson holds a Bachelor of Arts in Social Work and a Master of Arts in Organizational Communication from Bowie State University. 

He is a member of the American Football Coaches Association, CIAA Coaches Association, National Coalition of Minority Football Coaches, and Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Incorporated. 

Morgan State will hold an official press conference introducing Damon Wilson as the new head football coach on June 10.

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