Kevin R. Wilson
Encyclopedia
Kevin R. Wilson is an American football
coach. He is currently the head coach of the Indiana Hoosiers
.
at Maiden High School. He was all-conference for two seasons and for his senior season was named to the Charlotte Observer All-Piedmont team.
He played center
and guard
for the University of North Carolina
Tar Heels
as a walk-on. After two seasons as a walk-on he earned a scholarship.
He earned a degree in Mathematics in 1984, and then became a graduate assistant
for three years while working on a masters' degree in Physical Education.
While at North Carolina Randy Walker was a Tar Heels assistant. When Walker left North Carolina to become head coach at Miami University
in 1990, Wilson became his assistant there.
at Winston-Salem State University
. Wilson was the offensive coordinator
for the 1988 season for the North Carolina A&T Aggies
.
, near his hometown and alma mater Maiden, North Carolina
, where the Tigers went 0–10.
RedHawks
in 1990, under head coach Randy Walker, and coached there as offensive line coach, quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator until 1998. When Walker moved to Northwestern University
Wilson went with him, serving as the offensive coordinator, quarterbacks coach, and assistant head coach, from 1999 to 2001.
After spending 19 season's under the tutelage of his mentor Walker (four as a player at North Carolina, three as a graduate assistant there, nine as a coach at Miami, and three as a coach at Northwestern), Wilson left his long-time mentor, who died in 2006 at age 52, to become the running game coordinator and the offensive line coach at Oklahoma
in 2002. In December 2005, Wilson was named the offensive coordinator
for the Sooners prior to the 2006 season
, replacing Chuck Long
who left to become the head coach at San Diego State
. Oklahoma named James Patton to replace Wilson as offensive line coach, Patton served under Wilson at both Northwestern and Miami, and Wilson recommended Patton to Sooners' head coach Bob Stoops
. In 2008, Wilson won the Broyles Award
, which is given to the top assistant in college football annually. He was also named the "FootballScoop Offensive Coordinator of the Year".
athletic director Fred Glass
announced the dismissal of Bill Lynch
and the rest of the coaching staff on November 28, 2010, following a third straight season with only one conference victory. Glass announced the hiring of Wilson on December 7, giving Wilson his first collegeiate head coaching job.
On December 20, Wilson hired New Mexico defensive coordinator Doug Mallory and Nebraska
linebackers coach Mike Ekeler
(also LBs) as co-defensive coordinators. Mallory, the son of former Indiana head coach Bill Mallory
, was Indiana's defensive backs coach from 1994-1996. Wilson also hired Rod Smith from Michigan
and Kevin Johns from Northwestern
to be co-offensive coordinators. The rest of the Hoosiers' coaching staff consists of Mark Hagen (Special Teams/DTs), Brett Dierson (DEs/recruiting coordinator), Greg Frey (OL), Deland McCullough (RBs) and Brandon Shelby (CBs).
Wilson takes over a Hoosiers team that has finished 10th or 11th in the Big Ten
in each of the previous three seasons and has not been to a bowl since losing to Oklahoma State
in the 2007 Insight Bowl
.
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
coach. He is currently the head coach of the Indiana Hoosiers
Indiana Hoosiers football
The Indiana Hoosiers football program represents Indiana University Bloomington in NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision college football and in the Big Ten Conference.-Bowl games:...
.
Playing career
Wilson played offensive line and linebackerLinebacker
A linebacker is a position in American football that was invented by football coach Fielding H. Yost of the University of Michigan. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up approximately three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage, behind the defensive linemen...
at Maiden High School. He was all-conference for two seasons and for his senior season was named to the Charlotte Observer All-Piedmont team.
He played center
Center (American football)
Center is a position in American football and Canadian football . The center is the innermost lineman of the offensive line on a football team's offense...
and guard
Guard (American football)
In American and Canadian football, a guard is a player that lines up between the center and the tackles on the offensive line of a football team....
for the University of North Carolina
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a public research university located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States...
Tar Heels
North Carolina Tar Heels football
The North Carolina Tar Heels football team represents the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in collegiate level football. In Carolina’s first 121 seasons of football competition, the Tar Heels have compiled a record of 646–488–54, a winning percentage of .566...
as a walk-on. After two seasons as a walk-on he earned a scholarship.
He earned a degree in Mathematics in 1984, and then became a graduate assistant
Teaching assistant
A teaching assistant is an individual who assists a professor or teacher with instructional responsibilities. TAs include graduate teaching assistants , who are graduate students; undergraduate teaching assistants , who are undergraduate students; secondary school TAs, who are either high school...
for three years while working on a masters' degree in Physical Education.
While at North Carolina Randy Walker was a Tar Heels assistant. When Walker left North Carolina to become head coach at Miami University
Miami University
Miami University is a coeducational public research university located in Oxford, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1809, it is the 10th oldest public university in the United States and the second oldest university in Ohio, founded four years after Ohio University. In its 2012 edition, U.S...
in 1990, Wilson became his assistant there.
Early years
After playing for the North Carolina Tar Heels, he spent three seasons (1984–1986) as a graduate assistant coach while he worked on this masters degree. In 1987, he became the offensive line coachOffensive line coach
The offensive line coach is a coaching position in gridiron football that is in charge of the offensive line. This role is very common in the CFL, NFL, and college football programs. The offensive line coach serves the offense, which is led by the offensive coordinator....
at Winston-Salem State University
Winston-Salem State University
Winston-Salem State University , a constituent institution of the University of North Carolina, is a historically black public research university located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States. It is a member school of the Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund.Winston-Salem State has been...
. Wilson was the offensive coordinator
Offensive coordinator
An offensive coordinator is a member of the coaching staff of a gridiron football team who is in charge of the offense. Generally, along with his defensive counterpart, he represents the second level of command structure after the head coach...
for the 1988 season for the North Carolina A&T Aggies
North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University
North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University is a land-grant university located in Greensboro, North Carolina, United States. It is the largest publicly funded historically black college in the state of North Carolina.NC A&T is a constituent institution of the University of North...
.
High school
In 1989 he became the head coach and athletic director of Fred T. Foard High SchoolFred T. Foard High School
Fred T. Foard High School is a public, coeducational high school located in the community of Propst Crossroads, ten miles west of Newton, North Carolina, United States. The school is part of the Catawba County Schools system. Foard has been designated a school of distinction by the state of...
, near his hometown and alma mater Maiden, North Carolina
Maiden, North Carolina
Maiden is a town in Catawba and Lincoln counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Maiden is also known as "The Biggest Little Football Town in the World"...
, where the Tigers went 0–10.
Return to college
Following one year coaching on the high school level, Wilson returned to college coaching for the Miami UniversityMiami University
Miami University is a coeducational public research university located in Oxford, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1809, it is the 10th oldest public university in the United States and the second oldest university in Ohio, founded four years after Ohio University. In its 2012 edition, U.S...
RedHawks
Miami RedHawks football
The Miami University RedHawks, known as the Miami Redskins before 1996, are a NCAA Division I FBS college football program that competes in the Mid-American Conference...
in 1990, under head coach Randy Walker, and coached there as offensive line coach, quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator until 1998. When Walker moved to Northwestern University
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
Wilson went with him, serving as the offensive coordinator, quarterbacks coach, and assistant head coach, from 1999 to 2001.
After spending 19 season's under the tutelage of his mentor Walker (four as a player at North Carolina, three as a graduate assistant there, nine as a coach at Miami, and three as a coach at Northwestern), Wilson left his long-time mentor, who died in 2006 at age 52, to become the running game coordinator and the offensive line coach at Oklahoma
Oklahoma Sooners football
The Oklahoma Sooners football program is a college football team that represents the University of Oklahoma . The team is currently a member of the Big 12 Conference, which is a Division I Bowl Subdivision of the National Collegiate Athletic Association...
in 2002. In December 2005, Wilson was named the offensive coordinator
Offensive coordinator
An offensive coordinator is a member of the coaching staff of a gridiron football team who is in charge of the offense. Generally, along with his defensive counterpart, he represents the second level of command structure after the head coach...
for the Sooners prior to the 2006 season
2006 Oklahoma Sooners football team
The 2006 Oklahoma Sooners football team represented the University of Oklahoma in the college football season of 2006-2007, winning the Big 12 Conference Championship...
, replacing Chuck Long
Chuck Long
Chuck Long is an American football coach. He played quarterback in college at Iowa for Hayden Fry and professionally with the Detroit Lions and the Los Angeles Rams. He is an inductee of the College Football Hall of Fame. In the January 2008 issue of San Diego Magazine he was chosen as one of...
who left to become the head coach at San Diego State
San Diego State Aztecs football
The San Diego State football team represents the San Diego State Aztecs in college football. The Aztecs, a Division I FBS team and a member of the Mountain West Conference, play their home games at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, California. The field is natural grass and has a maximum capacity of...
. Oklahoma named James Patton to replace Wilson as offensive line coach, Patton served under Wilson at both Northwestern and Miami, and Wilson recommended Patton to Sooners' head coach Bob Stoops
Bob Stoops
Robert Anthony "Bob" Stoops is the head coach of the University of Oklahoma football team. During the 2000 season, Stoops led the Sooners to an Orange Bowl victory and a national championship....
. In 2008, Wilson won the Broyles Award
Broyles Award
The Broyles Award is an annual award given to honor the best assistant coach in college football. First awarded in 1996, it was named after former University of Arkansas men's athletic director Frank Broyles...
, which is given to the top assistant in college football annually. He was also named the "FootballScoop Offensive Coordinator of the Year".
Indiana
IndianaIndiana Hoosiers football
The Indiana Hoosiers football program represents Indiana University Bloomington in NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision college football and in the Big Ten Conference.-Bowl games:...
athletic director Fred Glass
Fred Glass
Fred Glass is the current athletic director at Indiana University. He was hired by university president Michael McRobbie on October 28, 2008, following the resignation of Rick Greenspan. Glass is twice a graduate of Indiana University, having earned his undergraduate degree in 1981 and his law...
announced the dismissal of Bill Lynch
Bill Lynch
Bill Lynch is a college athletics administrator and former American football player and coach. Since March 2011, he has served at the Associate Athletic Director for Development at Butler University...
and the rest of the coaching staff on November 28, 2010, following a third straight season with only one conference victory. Glass announced the hiring of Wilson on December 7, giving Wilson his first collegeiate head coaching job.
On December 20, Wilson hired New Mexico defensive coordinator Doug Mallory and Nebraska
Nebraska Cornhuskers football
The Nebraska Cornhuskers represent the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in college football. The program has established itself as a traditional powerhouse, and has the fourth-most all-time victories of any NCAA Division I-A team. Nebraska is one of only six football programs in NCAA Division I-A...
linebackers coach Mike Ekeler
Mike Ekeler
Mike Ekeler is a Co-Defensive Coordinator and the Linebackers Coach for the Indiana University Bloomington football team...
(also LBs) as co-defensive coordinators. Mallory, the son of former Indiana head coach Bill Mallory
Bill Mallory
William G. "Bill" Mallory is a former American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Miami University , the University of Colorado at Boulder , Northern Illinois University , and Indiana University , compiling a career college football record of...
, was Indiana's defensive backs coach from 1994-1996. Wilson also hired Rod Smith from Michigan
Michigan Wolverines football
The Michigan Wolverines football program represents the University of Michigan in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level. Michigan has the most all-time wins and the highest winning percentage in college football history...
and Kevin Johns from Northwestern
Northwestern Wildcats football
The Northwestern Wildcats football team, representing Northwestern University, is a NCAA Division I team and member of the Big Ten Conference, with evidence of organization in 1876...
to be co-offensive coordinators. The rest of the Hoosiers' coaching staff consists of Mark Hagen (Special Teams/DTs), Brett Dierson (DEs/recruiting coordinator), Greg Frey (OL), Deland McCullough (RBs) and Brandon Shelby (CBs).
Wilson takes over a Hoosiers team that has finished 10th or 11th in the Big Ten
Big Ten Conference
The Big Ten Conference is the United States' oldest Division I college athletic conference. Its twelve member institutions are located primarily in the Midwestern United States, stretching from Nebraska in the west to Pennsylvania in the east...
in each of the previous three seasons and has not been to a bowl since losing to Oklahoma State
Oklahoma State Cowboys football
The Oklahoma State Cowboys football program represents Oklahoma State University–Stillwater in college football. The team is a member of the Big 12 Conference and completes at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level. The Cowboys are led by Mike Gundy, who is in his seventh year as...
in the 2007 Insight Bowl
2007 Insight Bowl
The 2007 Insight Bowl, part of the 2007-08 NCAA football bowl games season, was played on December 31, 2007, at Sun Devil Stadium on the Arizona State University campus in Tempe, Arizona....
.