New Woodlawn High football coach seeks Bradshaw donation in 2026
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Lavelle Wilson Jr. paused for maybe a half-second before saying who is annually touted as Woodlawn’s most famous football player.
“Terry Bradshaw,” Wilson said with a grin. “So, hopefully he sees this so he can get us a donation.”
Announced Tuesday afternoon in front of a full auditorium at Woodlawn High School as the school’s football coach, Wilson vowed to make the Knights a relevant contender in District 1-4A in short order.
“I’ve studied my football, and I know there’s some good football down here,” he said. “But at the end of the day, that’s the same thing I’m trying to do over here at this school.”
Wilson comes to Woodlawn from Richwood in Monroe as a replacement for Thedrick Harris, who recently opted to take some time off from coaching. A graduate of Richwood (2005) and Grambling State University, Wilson has been serving as the offensive coordinator at Richwood, where he began his coaching career in 2008.
Harris, who was hired in 2021, saw his final Woodlawn team recently complete a 1-9 campaign, but his teams made the LHSAA playoffs the two previous seasons. The Louisiana Tech graduate was a defensive coordinator at Southwood and Huntington before serving as head coach at Marshall (Texas) High before coming to Woodlawn.
Harris will continue at the school as athletic director and administrative assistant in discipline to assist in building what he started.
About a dozen Woodlawn football players were on hand to greet Wilson, who said he will make sure his athletes are preparing themselves both on and off the field.
“Discipline. Most of the teams you see in the state championship are disciplined,” he said. “And they can run the ball, and they are physical teams. That’s what I’m trying to bring down here. We want to be a very tough, disciplined team.”
Wilson was the offensive coordinator at Wossman for three years (2022-25), leading the Wildcats to a trio of playoff appearances. He also spent three seasons as football and basketball coach at Richwood Middle School. He realizes the importance of keeping Woodlawn kids at Woodlawn instead of them showing up on the rosters at other Caddo Parish schools.
“Coach Wilson is coming to CMCT, Linwood and Ridgewood,” he said of the middle schools that feed Woodlawn. “Those three for a fact. I’m coming.”
Wilson and his wife, Chelsea, have five children, four boys and a girl.
Jimmy Watson covers Louisiana sports for the USA TODAY Network. Email him at jwatson@shreveporttimes.com and follow him on Twitter @JimmyWatson6.
This article originally appeared on Shreveport Times: Woodlawn turns to Richwood OC for new football coach to replace Harris
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