Chris Murray

RGJ

Wolf Pack long snapper Tyler Wilson usually talks to his father, Ken, on the phone every day, one man in Reno and the other in Pullman, Wash.

They chat about how the family's doing or how the weather is or how Tyler's classes are going.

But the Wilson boys haven't spoken to each other since last Saturday. And they won't talk again for the rest of the week. They're on a self-imposed 144-hour strike from all communications. They won't talk again until both step foot on the Mackay Stadium turf Friday night as rivals, if only for a night.

After Ken Wilson coached his son in 2012 as a member of Nevada's staff, he'll be on the other sideline Friday when Nevada hosts Washington State, where Wilson is a member of the Cougars' staff. It'll be the first time the father and son play against one another, and it'll be a memory both will cherish forever.

"He and my daughter are my inspiration," said the elder Wilson, a Wolf Pack assistant for 19 years. "The things that he does and the drive that he has to succeed are impressive. A lot of people told him he couldn't play Division I football. He's done all of this on his own. He hasn't been given anything."

Wilson, a sophomore and Spanish Springs High grad, was born to be a Nevada football player. No member of the team cherishes putting on a Wolf Pack jersey as much as Wilson, a Northern Nevada lifer.

Ken Wilson still has pictures of a newborn Tyler in Wolf Pack jerseys. And although Tyler doesn't remember the moment, his mother, Heather, brought a then 2-year-old Tyler on Nevada's road game at Oregon in 1996. Little Tyler was in a stroller on the Wolf Pack sideline wearing "a little wolf outfit."

"Wolf Pack football has been my life since I was a little kid," Tyler Wilson said. "It means everything. To me, it's living out a dream. My whole life since I've been able to walk, I've wanted to be a Wolf Pack football player and to be able to do it every day now, it is a dream come true for me."

At a listed 5-foot-11 and 220 pounds, Wilson was never a Division I recruit. At Spanish Springs, he played offensive and defensive line, linebacker, tight end, and his bread-and-butter, short and long snapper.

Snapping has been an art the younger Wilson has been perfecting since he was 5 years old in his family's backyard. That's when Wilson's father gave him a Nerf ball and taught him the nuances of the often ignored but always important duty of snapping the ball on punts and kicks. Wilson, who joined Nevada as a walk-on in 2012, knew his size wasn't ideal for college football. But it never worried him.

"I've never seen my size as a limitation," said Wilson, who earned the Wolf Pack's starting snapping duties as a redshirt freshman last year. "That's just always been my mindset my whole life. Playing football at Nevada has always been what I wanted to do, and I always knew I could make it happen."

Said Ken Wilson: "He's not your prototypical size guy, but he's extremely tough. He's been a very tough kid his whole life. He's been driven. He's had a goal and he's worked for it and achieved it."

Through his first 13 games as Nevada's starter, Wilson has made about 125 snaps, all but one perfect. Last year against San Diego State, Wilson's snap went over the head of punter Chase Tenpenny, who had to kick the ball through the end zone for a safety. Despite hitting his target more than 99 percent of the time, it's that one bad snap he remembers the most. That's the life of a long snapper.

"The Tenpenny boot out the back of the end zone," Wilson said with a laugh. "Infamous. I'll never live it down. The good ones, nobody remembers. As a long snapper, you only get pub when you have bad ones."

But there's another memory Wilson will tell his kids about when he gets older. He'll tell them about the time he made a tackle against Florida State, the 2013 national champs. Last year, Wilson hiked a perfect spiral to Tenpenny before racing down the field and combining on a tackle with teammate Jordan Dobrich.

"I was out late and the dude was coming up the middle of the field and Dobby hit him from the side and he was coming toward me and I just got in on it and we took him down right at the 50-yard line, right on the Seminole," Wilson said. "I got the red paint all over my jersey. It's was really cool. It was awesome."

Wilson had his second career tackle last week in Nevada's season opener against Southern Utah, when he was named the team's special teams player of the week. After the game, Wilson called his dad to tell him about the Wolf Pack's win. They haven't spoken since then, swearing off communication until they meet in an ESPN-televised game.

"The last time we talked, we said, 'I'll see in you pregame warmups. I love you,' and that was it," Tyler Wilson said.

With her husband and son on the field at the same time, it will be a banner moment for Heather Wilson, a former Wolf Pack cheerleader and cheer coach. She lives in Pullman with her husband and daughter, Baylie, a high school senior, but Tyler said there's no question who she'll be rooting for Friday night.

"Nevada," Tyler Wilson said with no hesitation. "My mom was born and raised in Reno and is a Nevada alum. She's Nevada all the way."

Columnist Chris Murray provides insight on Northern Nevada sports. Contact him at cmurray@rgj.com or follow him on Twitter @MurrayRGJ.

THE FILE ON TYLER WILSON

Class: Sophomore

Position: Long Snapper

Height/weight: 5-11/220

Hometown: Sparks

High School: Spanish Springs

Family: Father, Ken, is an ex-Nevada assistant coach now on Washington State's staff. Nevada hosts the Cougars on Friday, the first father-son matchup in the family's history; mother, Heather; sister, Baylie.

Stats: Wilson has been Nevada's starting long snapper since 2013, appearing in 13 games with two career tackles; he was named the Wolf Pack's special teams player of the week after the 2014 season opener.