Woody Wilson wasn’t just about football, Andy Jackson recalls.

“He was kind of like a father figure,” said the Roanoke Rapids Police Department captain, who played under Wilson, who died Wednesday, in 1980. “He took time to listen to their problems and lead them in the right direction.”

Jackson remembers one player from a poor family who had few clothes. “We’d go to the gym and play and coach Wilson would take his clothes and personally wash and dry them to make sure he had clean clothes every day.”

In the winter he bought the student an athletic coat with his name stitched on the back. “Everyone knew he was going above and beyond to help the kid.”

Jackson compared Wilson to Bobby Bowden of Florida State because, “Bobby Bowden cares about his players. Woody had that respect of the players.”

Wilson liked old-fashioned football, Jackson recalled, running the Power I, 53 defense and preaching hardcore blocking in the trenches. “He was there for the program so long when you thought about Roanoke Rapids football you thought about Woody Wilson.”

Bill Blackwell quit football but came back because of Wilson. “He never cussed, never demeaned you, never put you down.”

Blackwell remembers Wilson would let players whose parents moved from Roanoke Rapids during the season stay with him so they could finish. “It was team first. It was just the way he treated people. He was never critical. He was just a good person.”

Earl Telliga covered Wilson as a play-by-play announcer for WCBT. “He earned the respect of all the ballplayers,” Telliga recalled.

Telliga also became the field announcer for the school. “He was just always consistent in everything. I have a lot of respect for him. He was an asset to the community.”