The longest tenured coach on staff, Larry Wilson enters his 12th season as wide receivers coach/specials teams coordinator at Cal U.
Wilson has worked with 20 All-PSAC West wide receivers during his time with the Vulcans and has mentored at least one All-PSAC West First-Team selection in each of his 11 years with the program. Additionally, he has developed five All-American wide receivers over the past eight years and eight wide receivers have posted 1,000-yard seasons in that span.
On special teams, Wilson has tutored 14 All-PSAC West selections with seven first-team honorees in 11 seasons. He has worked with both an All-American kicker and punter while being responsible for some of the top special team units in the country.
Wilson started his college coaching career in 2005 and worked with a pair of All-PSAC West First-Team wide receivers in Nate Forse and Marcellus Garner. Forse finished his career among the school’s all-time leaders in both receptions and receiving yards after previously playing at West Virginia. He ranked third in the PSAC with 10 touchdown receptions as a senior, as the Vulcans posted an undefeated regular season and advanced to the NCAA Semifinals.
The Vulcans also featured a pair of All-American specialists in 2007 with punter Jace Amore and kicker Tyler Lorenz. Amore ranked No. 17 in the country with 40.3 yards per punt as a senior, while Lorenz totaled 117 points and set a single-season school record with 21 field goals to finish second in the nation in field goals per game.
In 2008, Wilson worked with a pair of All-PSAC West First-Team wide receivers Marcel Pestano and A.J. Jackson, cousins from Florida. Pestano led the conference with 80 receptions and 15 touchdown receptions, while becoming the program’s first wide receiver in 25 years to eclipse 1,000 yards. The following season, Jackson was an All-American after setting single-season school records with 101 receptions, 1,424 receiving yards and 18 touchdowns. Terrance Moore also reached the 1,000-yard milestone in 2009, as the Vulcans advanced to the NCAA Semifinals for the third-consecutive year.
Punter Derek Fiorenza was a three-time All-PSAC West selection from 2008-10 and earned first-team status twice. He ranked second in the league as a sophomore with 42.8 yards per punt before finishing third in the PSAC in punting the next two years.
Following consecutive 1,000-yard seasons at Concord, wide receiver Thomas Mayo was a consensus All-American for the Vulcans as a senior in 2011. In his only year with the program, he led the PSAC with 16 touchdown receptions and finished sixth in the country with 104.5 receiving yards per game. Mike Williams then developed into a two-time All-PSAC West selection and was a D2Football.com All-American as a junior after posting 10 touchdown receptions and over 1,000 receiving yards.
The Vulcans featured a pair of All-PSAC West First-Team specialists in punter Andrew Cerett and kicker Cody Nuzzo in 2014. Cerett ranked among the top 10 in the country in punting as both a junior and senior and earned All-America status in 2014 with an average of 44.0 yards per punt. A four-year kicker, Nuzzo shattered the career school records for kickers and finished second all-time in school history with 296 points on 63 field goals and 181 PAT attempts.
Also in 2014, wide receiver Garry Brown burst on the national scene as a sophomore after ranking sixth in the country with 114.3 receiving yards per game. He then became the first wide receiver to eclipse the 1,000-yard mark twice in a career last year, as the Vulcans featured a pair of 1,000-yard wide receivers for just the second time in school history. Brown ranked No. 10 in the country with 102.8 receiving yards per game and finished fourth in the PSAC with 11 touchdown receptions. Kowan Scott also reached the 1,000-yard mark in 2015 en route to breaking the all-time school record for receiving yards, which stood for 30-plus years. Scott finished fifth in the nation in yards per reception as a senior.
Wilson consistently utilizes the top athletes on the team for the special team units which leads to blocked kicks and excellent field position. The Vulcans have recorded at least five blocked kicks in a year in all but two of Wilson’s 11 seasons with the program.
Cal U ranked third in the country in 2006 in kickoff returns before finishing the following year fifth in net punting. In 2008, the Vulcans finished third in the nation in both net punting and kickoff returns, while Freddie Bacco earned All-PSAC West honors as a return specialist. The following year, Chedrick Cherry – a three-time All-PSAC West wide receiver – finished sixth in the nation with 29.7 yards per kickoff return.
Return specialist Terrell Roberson ranked sixth in the country with 30.9 yards per kickoff return in 2014 after finishing eighth in NCAA Division II the previous year. The Vulcans also boasted the top punt coverage unit in the PSAC in 2013 and were second in the league in both kickoff and punt coverage the following year.
Last season, return specialist Aaron Terry ranked fifth in the country with 14.9 yards per punt return after finishing second in PSAC the previous year in punt returns.
Wilson served as the head coach at Frazier High School prior to starting his college coaching career. He was an all-state wide receiver at Frazier before playing three seasons at Slippery Rock, where he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in sports management.
Wilson and his wife Kristin live in North Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, with their sons, Cooper and Camden.
