Frank Wilson is going to lead LSU as the interim head coach at the Texas Bowl. His future in college football beyond Dec. 27 remains unclear as Lane Kiffin continues to build his new coaching staff.
He is caught in the middle of indecision.
Wilson hinted at an opportunity to continue his college football coaching career in Baton Rouge but could not provide specifics about what that might look like. Discussions are being tabled until the end of the month but it seems to me like Kiffin would figure it out if he really wanted him badly enough.
Who is Frank Wilson?
There may not be a better recruiter in the state of Louisiana. Wilson was born in New Orleans, played at Nicholls State, and spent the majority of his career in the Boot.
- 1997-1999: Ednar Karr High School assistant
- 2000-2003: O. Pery Walker High School head coach
- Louisiana Coach of the Year in 2002
- 2005-2007: Ole Miss running backs coach, special teams coordinator (on Ed Orgeron’s staff)
- 2008: Southern Miss running backs coach, run game coordinator
- 2009: Tennessee wide receivers coach (Lane Kiffin’s staff)
- 2019-2015: LSU associate head coach, running backs coach, run game coordinator
- 2016-2019: UTSA head coach
- 2020-2021: McNeese State head coach
- 2022-2025: LSU associate head coach, running backs coach
- 2025: LSU interim head coach
You get the idea. Wilson has a lot of experience and knows the Pelican State better than anyone. He was named as the national recruiter of the year in 2011 and 2014. He landed guys like Leonard Fournette, Odell Beckham Jr. and Tyrann Mathieu at LSU, among others.
The 52-year-old was named as the interim head coach of the Tigers after Brian Kelly was fired and will coach them through the bowl game later this month.
Lane Kiffin already built most of his coaching staff at LSU.
Kiffin left Ole Miss for LSU after the Egg Bowl. His exit is well-documented.
According to multiple reports, he threatened to steal the majority of his former staff from the Rebels before the College Football Playoff if he was not allowed to coach in the postseason and told his coaches to get on the plane with him to Baton Rouge that day if they wanted a job. The Tigers sent two planes to Oxford but the second plane was mostly empty. Only four or five coaches followed Kiffin that afternoon. The rest refused to leave their team high and dry.
It is currently unclear as to exactly how many of the coaches who did not go with Kiffin will join him later.
That puts Wilson in a sticky spot. There may not be any room left on the staff at LSU depending on who comes back and who doesn’t, and Ole Miss running backs coach Kevin Smith Jr. is perhaps the biggest domino.
If Smith does stay in Oxford, Kiffin will need a running backs coach and Wilson would be the easy hire. If Smith decides to join Kiffin in Baton Rouge, there would not be an obvious opening for Wilson.
What happens next?
Lane Kiffin and Frank Wilson are going to figure it out after the bowl game.
“We’ve had conversations,” the former said on Tuesday. “For me and for Coach Kiffin, let’s play this game on the 27th and we’ll go into those details later. We just want to finish what we started with this football team, with the team of 2025. Give them our undivided attention before transition happens. So until then, nothing will necessarily happen in that regard. There’ll be opportunity there. Where that lies, I’m not sure. But the priority is our current football team.”
Everything is up in the air. Wilson may not even want to stay at LSU! Kiffin might kick him to the curb! We don’t know.
It sounds to me like Smith’s decision will be crucial for Wilson’s future. Would Kiffin make a new position for a guy with whom he has a rapport, who would be crucial for in-state recruiting? Wilson said “there will be opportunity” but where? If the running backs position is filled, would he want to stay as an analyst?
Maybe Kiffin would put Wilson back at wide receivers coach like at Tennessee. That would make sense.
Only time will tell. The focus right now is on the Texas Bowl.