Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Gators’ Wilson rises to key role on defense
GAINESVILLE — The receiver was running down the field, wide open, and Chad Wilson was angry.
A player had blown his coverage.
“I’m getting ready to get on somebody’s case,” Wilson said. “And then, out of the blue, this hand comes out of nowhere and onehands the pick like it was nothing.”
The hand belonged to Quincy Wilson, Chad’s son, who was clutching the ball effortlessly. Interception. “Wow,” Chad Wilson remembers thinking. “Where the hell did that come from?”
That was when Chad Wilson was coaching his son as the defensive coordinator at University School in Fort Lauderdale and helping him transition from quarterback to cornerback.
What followed was a whirlwind of opportunities: college scholarship offers, recruiting visits and, eventually, a full ride to the University of Florida.
Now many mock drafts predict Quincy Wilson to be selected among the first cornerbacks in the 2017 NFL draft.
And yet, entering this season, Wilson wasn’t even expected to be the best cornerback on his team.
Teammate Jalen Tabor made CBS’ 2016 Preseason All-America team, while Wilson was left off. Tabor garnered most of the media attention after the departure of UF cornerback Vernon Hargreaves III.
But as Wilson nears the end of what could be his last collegiate season and as No. 15 Florida prepares for a matchup against No. 1 Alabama in the SEC Championship Game on Saturday, the difference between the two juniors is no longer clear-cut.
“I came to Florida so I could be with the best DBs,” Wilson said. “It just brings out the best in you.”
His breakout moment came during UF’s win over Missouri in October, when Wilson jumped in front of a Tigers tight end and snatched a pass out of the air, returning it 78 yards for a touchdown. It was the sixth-longest interception return in UF history.
Wilson is tied with safety Marcus Maye for second on the team with six pass breakups and has three interceptions, the same number he had in his first two years at Florida combined.
And with his 6-foot-1, 213-pound frame, his draft stock has been rising ever since the season began.
When Quincy Wilson was a freshman who was just learning how to play defensive back, Chad Wilson wanted to temper his son’s expectations.
“These are juniors and seniors in the most talentrich part of the country,” Chad Wilson remembers telling him. “I expect you to get abused, really.”
Quincy Wilson stepped into the one-on-one drills, and, for the first time, Chad Wilson realized his son would be a special player.
“I almost felt sorry about the message that I gave him,” the father said. “He ignored all of that.”
Come the first day of the NFL draft, the Wilson family is prepared for the nation to hear their son’s name.
“You hear all the media reports about first-round pick or possibly the first cornerback taken, but I don’t take any of those things for granted,” Chad Wilson said.
“You still got to make it happen.”