June 22, 2008

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. - The Carson-Newman family has lost a legend.

Longtime Eagle baseball coach Bobby Wilson passed away on Saturday at the age of 84 after a short bout with cancer.

Wilson served as baseball coach at Mossy Creek for 23 years, winning 11 conference titles, including 10 consecutive from 1965-'74. He replaced legendary C-N coach Frosty Holt in the 1965 season. The Eagles went on to win the 1965 NAIA National Championship, the first national title in any sport in Carson-Newman's history.

During his career, he coached the Eagles to a 490-260-1 record and had 16 All-Americans play for him from 1965-'87.

The Piedmont, Ala. native also served as a member of the Carson-Newman faculty, retiring in 1990 from his position as Assistant Professor Emeritus of Health, Physical Education and Recreation.

Wilson is a member of the Carson-Newman Athletic Hall of Fame. His number, 38, is the only retired jersey in C-N baseball history.

After a 23-year career as C-N's head coach, Wilson earned a spot in the NAIA Baseball Hall of Fame (1986). He coached former C-N standouts Roy Hill, Danny Pierce, and Clyde "Chico" Wright, who went on to pitch for the California Angels.

A two-sport star at the University of Mississippi, he is also a member of the Ole Miss Athletic Hall of Fame after impressive careers in both football and baseball for the Rebels.

Wilson went on to be drafted by the Cincinnati Reds and Philadelphia Eagles, and enjoyed a three-year career as a minor-leaguer in the Reds' organization.

After coaching high school football and baseball for 12 years in his home state of Mississippi, Wilson joined Holt's coaching staff in East Tennessee, where he would become a key member of the C-N and Jefferson City communities. He was a member and past president of the Jefferson City Lions' Club, as well as serving on Carson-Newman's Community and College Council for three years.

Wilson was also a World War II veteran, serving in the European Theater from 1943 to 1946 as a member of a coast artillery unit.