Long Closes Career at The Citadel on Positive Note
The Citadel’s football team had the most talent in Wilson Long’s four years with the NCAA Division I FCS program this past fall.
“It had to be the best team in my four years there,” Long said. “We went 4-8, which was disappointing. We had hoped to do better. Four years of football behind me, but it was a great experience.”
Long and fellow Fellowship Christian School Class of 2022 member Josh Cole helped the Bulldogs make progress with in 2025 and 2024 (5-7) following a 0-11 campaign in 2023. The Bulldogs finished with a 4-7 record their first year in South Carolina.
The Bulldogs had their sights set on six wins but lost twice by just two points over the last eight days of the 2025 season to wind up 4-8 overall. The Citadel dropped a 16-14 contest to Wofford University – a rival from the state of South Carolina – at home on Nov. 15, and were edged by East Tennessee State, 28-26, on the road on Nov. 22.
The Bulldogs’ eight losses included games at the University of Mississippi and North Dakota State – a team that has won 10 FCS national championships – in Charleston.
Long, who graduated in May with a finance degree from The Citadel, is getting married to FCS graduate Reese Zickafoose on Aug. 1. The couple will move to Charlotte, N.C., where Long will begin a job with Wells Fargo Bank in August.
“I am looking forward to it all,” Long said. “I am excited to be getting married to the love of my life. And I am ready to start working. It’s a great accomplishment to graduate [from The Citadel]. I feel very good about that, and I am ready to conquer the world.”
Long fondly recalls his time at the South Carolina military school.
“There are so many highlights,” he said. “Football wise, my biggest highlights were making the travel team as a sophomore for the first time. We played at Georgia Southern. Playing at Clemson and Ole Miss was great too. It felt so cool to step on the field at those huge stadiums and know we were there to compete. The VMI game this year was a highlight too. We were down 21-0 [in the third quarter] and 24-7 [in the fourth quarter] but we came back and wound up winning 35-24 [on Nov. 1]. It felt insurmountable at the time, but we won that one. It was a crazy game and a huge win.”
In 2025, Long equaled his career best with 10 games played. He played in a career-best 10 games as a junior (making two tackles – one versus Samford and one against Wofford). As a sophomore, Long participated in eight contests.
Having a familiar face fellows FCS graduate – Josh Cole – at The Citadel was important to Long.
“It was great having Josh there, especially freshman year,” Long said. “It was Nob Year. Freshman year and the military training was very hard. It was huge to have him there because he was going through the same things as me. We were roommates most of the time there, we had the same major and were in FCA [Fellowship of Christian Athletes] together. FCA was a great experience for us. We both grew our relationships with the Lord.”
Even though The Citadel is a military institution, it still has athletes participate in the portal and transfer into the program.
“I think a third of cadets go into the military,” said Long, who noted that the program that allowed day students to attend The Citadel was reinstated in 2010. These students were not cadets because they did not participate in military training as freshmen.
“We always had upperclassmen transfer in through my time there, but they weren’t cadets,” Long said. “I am pretty sure that’s increased every year here. You must have transfers to continue momentum with the program. It’s necessary to win. But it’s never been a distraction. I had great experiences with all the players who transferred in the last three or four years.”
(Photos courtesy of citadelsports.com).