A line of videocassettes lines the front of the desk which is covered by scouting reports and one-inch binders of player profiles. Pictures of former Mississippi State University players line the walls, and a glass football with the name Derrick Brooks, a long-time friend and starting linebacker for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, sits atop a file cabinet in the corner. But what is the first thing that MSU Director of Football Operations David Wilson talks about? The book, “My Utmost for His Highest,” which sits at the very front of his desk. “In this business, you have to have a basis to fall back on, or you will just go crazy,” the 18-year coaching veteran said. “Whether it be spiritual or just family, that just helps to keep you grounded.”
Wilson is in his fifth year at MSU but is taking over a new position this season after four years as the tight ends coach. During the summer, Wilson was promoted to an administrative position that relieves him of field responsibilities.
“I don’t know if, as a football coach, I will ever get used to being in the office,” Wilson said. “Getting to go to practice ever day and be there on the field is a little concession, and I still get to motivate and help with team morale.”
In place of on-field responsibilities, Wilson’s main responsibility is the coordination of the football program’s recruiting effort. With only six days during the football season that coaches can evaluate high school players, the most difficult job for Wilson is deciding which coaches to send and what days to go.
“A school can only have seven coaches on the road during this evaluation period, so it is my job to pick when and who goes,” Wilson said. “We also have to decide when we are going to send coach (Jackie) Sherrill, and who we are going to bring back if he goes.”
Until the first week of December, all NCAA schools are under what is called a quiet period, during which coaches can call a recruit once a week but cannot have any face-to-face contact and no official school visits by the recruits.
At the end of this period comes the major recruiting leads to signing day in February. During the next period, official school visits start, and coaches are again on the road.
“I have to decide which seven coaches are going to be on the road during that period at which times,” Wilson said, “but we also want to get the coordinators involved and get coach Sherrill where he is needed.
“Coach Sherrill is allowed to visit each recruit one time, but we have to pull someone else off the road for him to go out. We also have to decide which recruits we want coach Sherrill to visit.”
Next come the recruit visits. These visits make or break a school’s chances with a recruit. Wilson has the responsibility of planning each visit and taking care of the recruits while they are on campus.
“There are a lot of things that we try to do while the kids are on campus,” Wilson said. “The main thing that I try to get across to the kids is making them feel comfortable. We want to make them feel like part of the family, but we still use some of the same gimmicks that other schools use.”
Even with gimmicks, such as jerseys with recruits’ names on them, touring the stadium and dinners in the skyboxes, Wilson has to make sure that the visit stays within NCAA guidelines.
“We are allowed to pay for travel, lodging and food for the recruit and his family. We can even send the school plane for him,” Wilson said, “but we can only spend $30 a day entertaining the recruit.”
Winning recruits with gimmicks and strategies is an art that Wilson learned from one of the best, Bobby Bowden. Wilson spent two separate stints at Florida State University and helped with the recruiting of many of the national contending teams.
“One of the first things that Bobby (Bowden) taught me was to win your state and to form a base to recruit from,” Wilson said of his recruiting philosophy. “We have divided the state into nine regions and have split the other southern states as well. Over the past five years, we have been able to really set our base.”
Though Wilson learned his recruiting techniques from Bowden, his coaching history runs into big-time Florida high school football. With stints at three different Pensacola area high schools, Wilson was able to make a name for himself that propelled him into the college ranks.
“I was lucky to have some great players while I was coaching high school football-names like Derrick Brooks, who became a great friend,” Wilson said. “I think that is where I learned most of what I know, and I learned that the main thing is seeing the players succeed. I love to see players like Derrick (Brooks) or Dicenzo Miller walk back into their hometowns and make an impact.”