The562’s coverage of Long Beach Wilson Athletics is sponsored by Joel Bitonio, Class of 2009.
New coach Raudric Curtis isn’t trying to reinvent the wheel for Wilson football. In fact, Curtis isn’t even changing the 2025 schedule that he’s inherited while trying to roll over the momentum that the Bruins built with a historic CIF championship game appearance last season.
“There are models of success here that I’m connected to that allows me to essentially hit the ground running,” said Curtis, who coached with Mark Ziegenhagen at Mayfair and recently spoke with last year’s Wilson coach Travis Clark. Ziegenhagen and Clark are the last two coaches to get the Bruins deep into the playoffs.
“The spirit of this team is trying to pick up where they left off last year and that allows me to come into a program that has expectations of success, and that allows me to implement the habit of success more effectively,” Curtis said. “Nothing that I say about championship culture is too ambitious.”
Just like last year, Wilson will start the 2025 season against Portola on August 22. That game will be on the road, just like the Marina game on Aug. 22 a week later. The Bruins will have their home opener on Sept. 5 against Sunny Hills, and then will host Dana Hills on Sept. 12 before starting the Moore League schedule.
Without a schedule to worry about, Curtis said he was able to concentrate on getting his new players together in the offseason passing league 4 Vertical Football. The Bruins showed great improvement earlier this year with Mack Cooper growing as a playmaker and a lead. He continued to find possession receiver Thomas Jones while building a relationship with new target tight end Jagger Kohagura and sophomore receiver Kyle Harris.
Wilson has multiple showcases coming next month including their own when Cerritos visits on May 27.
