Salem coach steps down

Salem High football coach Shawn Wilson has stepped down after 26 years of coaching.

Wilson, who turns 47 next month, said it was time. He coached the SunDevils for five seasons after previously serving as the head coach at Green Run.

“I missed a lot of things because of football,” he said. “It takes so much of your time when you want to have a successful program. It’s time for me to enjoy some things.”

Wilson was 41-14 in five seasons with Salem and 78-39 in 10 seasons overall as a head coach.

A former Bayside standout, Wilson played football at the University of Florida in the early 1990s, but a knee injury ended his career. He left and received a bachelor’s degree from Norfolk State.

He then spent several seasons as an assistant coach at Cox, Princess Anne, Bayside, Wilson and Kempsville before being named head coach at Green Run before the 2007 season.

He inherited a program that was 2-58 in its previous 60 games and had gone 0-10 for five consecutive seasons from 2000 to 2004.

But he changed the losing attitude at Green Run. The Stallions made the playoffs his first two seasons, finishing 10-2 both times, and went again in 2011.

He calls that one of his greatest accomplishments.

“That’s one of the big highlights for me was being able to turn a program around,” he said.

After stepping down, he returned the following season as an assistant at Salem under Robert Jackson. When Jackson left to become the athletic director at Norcom, Wilson was promoted to head coach.

Wilson said he learned that to have a good football program, it meant sacrificing your time. Football consumes a coach all year long, from offseason workouts to passing leagues and helping players get into college.

Wilson helped send more than 100 athletes to college, including Kaelon Black (James Madison), Anwar Sparrow (Syracuse), Zemarion Harrell (Coastal Carolina) and Isaiah Henderson (Air Force) in recent years.

Now he’ll have time to see them play.

“I didn’t get a chance to enjoy that before because I was so committed to game-planning and preparing for the next week,” Wilson said. “I never got a chance to really travel and see my guys at the next level.”

Wilson is the second veteran coach in South Hampton Roads to step down recently. Ocean Lakes coach Joe Jones stepped down earlier this month.