For decades, the No. 15 jersey has never been worn by a member of the Oxford Charger varsity football program. That will soon change, starting in the upcoming 2026 season.
On Tuesday, July 28, members of the football coaching staff selected junior linebacker Weldon Wilkinson to honor Bobby Holcomb and wear his No. 15 jersey this coming season. The criteria for the Bobby Holcomb Award includes toughness, selflessness, dependability, and a fearless competitive spirit that Bobby Holcomb embodied as a student-athlete.
Weldon is an outstanding young man and is a representative of what we are looking for in our football program and our football players, OHS head coach Chris Cutcliffe said of Wilkinson. He’s somebody we are all very proud of. I think he makes the community really proud. He is a very deserving winner of the Bobby Holcomb Award.
Wilkinson, a significant defensive contributor of Oxford’s 2025 Region 2-7A championship team, led the team with 131 total tackles in 12 games played, adding 8.0 tackles for loss, three forced fumbles and a recovery this past season.
Bobby Holcomb, the namesake of Oxford’s home stadium for football, was a 5-foot-7, 135-pound co-team captain of the 1951 University High School football team. On October 12 of that same year, on a field now occupied by the University of Mississippi, the Colonels of UHS faced Amory in a crucial matchup to win the Little 10 Conference.
That night, Holcomb made what was described by one local Oxonian as a full-force, head-first tackle on the back side of an Amory player. The hit later led to his tragic death that evening at age 19, leaving the community in mourning for the loss of one of their own.
On October 18, 1951, the Oxford Eagle published an article in remembrance of Holcomb’s life.
Football was Bobby’s way of expressing himself, the Oxford Eagle article stated. Physical courage can be a beautiful thing in itself. Bobby was smaller than average and he had to play harder. He loved the acclaim of the crowd; he loved ‘being somebody’ as the star back and the co-captain of the UHS Colonels.
“Quiet, dependable, respectful to his elders, he was loved by every one of the high school youngsters who he, in turn, respected so much. So in his shortened life he contributed more and accomplished more than will be contributed or accomplished by the great majority of men who live to score three and ten.”
In the present day, Holcomb’s name lives on in his community. Bobby Holcomb Field is where today’s Oxford Chargers compete on the gridiron. Those same Chargers also walk past a plaque carrying his name in the southwest corner of the stadium, dedicated by his classmates on October 19, 2001.
The 2026 Chargers will officially open this coming season at Bobby Holcomb Field against the Collierville Dragons. Kickoff is set for 7:00 p.m. CT and can be seen on Charger TV or listened to on Bullseye 95.5 FM.
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