Danny Wilmer

1947 - 2025

Danny Wilmer

April 15, 1947 - February 26, 2025

Danny Wilmer, who served as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator for UVA football under George Welch, died on February 26 at his home outside of Charlottesville. He was 77. A long-time fixture of UVA football, Wilmer passed away peacefully after a long illness. He was cared for by his stepson Brian and Whitney Deane and family, who honored Wilmer's wishes to remain in his home.

Wilmer was born in Buena Vista, Virginia, where his love of football and history took root. He went on to play tight end and middle linebacker at East Carolina University while earning a degree in Geography and Urban Planning. After playing a season in the CFL for the Edmonton franchise, Wilmer took his first coaching job at Western New Mexico University, where he earned a masters degree and was the team's defensive coordinator.

In coaching, Wilmer found a role he was born for, one that made him a stand-out name in Virginia football and beyond.

Working as a coach and recruiter for James Madison University, Wilmer successfully recruited the future Hall of Fame defensive lineman Charles Haley, who had garnered little attention in high school. When George Welch took over UVA football in 1984, he knew that to revive the long-suffering program, he needed the best recruiting network possible. After asking Virginia sportswriters who the best recruiter in the state was, he came up with the name Danny Wilmer.

The next year, Wilmer was burning midnight oil and rubber on Virginia back roads for UVA, searching for student athletes who not only fit the football program but a top-tier university. And he found them. Wilmer was responsible for bringing some of the biggest names in UVA football to Charlottesville, players like Anthony Poindexter, Marques Hagans, Tony Covinton, Chris Slade, as well as Rondi and Tiki Barber.

For sixteen years, Wilmer opened up a pipeline of football talent that fed directly to UVA as Welch and his team took the Cavaliers from an ACC backwater to a college football force. Through it all, Wilmer built and nurtured relationships with his players that went well beyond the field. Even after Wilmer stopped coaching in 2000, former players would call, text, and drop by his home just outside of Charlottesville. Wilmer would sit down with them in the small building just beyond the front door of his house, the "Rasta Hut" as it was known, and talk football, history, and life.

Wilmer's size could be intimidating for people meeting him for the first time. Upon being introduced to young men, he had a habit of asking two questions: 1. Did you play contact sports? 2. Do you have a pocket knife? But it wasn't long before Wilmer's sly grin penetrated that gruff front, and pretty soon the person meeting him more than likely had a new friend.

Wilmer will be remembered by countless people. Those he coached. Those he recruited. Those who worked alongside him. Those he loved, and those who loved him. Even in retirement, the circle of people who called him "coach" grew ever wider.

Wilmer is survived by his wife Myrna Ford, stepson Brian Deane and his wife Whitney, his sister Sue Wilmer, his niece Meaghan Garrison and her husband Stephen, his great-niece Kenadie Garrison, his son Chris Wilmer, and his three grandchildren Zoie, Emery, and Grayson Deane.

Wilmer's family would like to thank the Hospice of Piedmont and Theresa Adler-Kennedy, who took care of him in his illness. The family would also like to thank Chris Luzar, one of Wilmer's players at UVA, who faithfully visited Wilmer, as well as neighbors Larry and Debby Oder, who were the best neighbors ever.

A celebration of Danny Wilmer's life is being planned for later in the spring.