It has been nearly two weeks since LSU football closed the chapter on the Brian Kelly era in Baton Rouge after the Tigers were humbled in consecutive losses to ranked opponents.
The first obstacle in the post-Kelly era in Baton Rouge will be stopping No. 4 Alabama, a team that has won seven consecutive games and will face the Tigers at home in Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
The man leading the Tigers into that battle will be someone who plenty of history coaching against the Crimson Tide: interim coach Frank Wilson.
Wilson will seek to help the Tigers salvage a season that started with what was thought to be a statement win for LSU following a road victory over No. 6 Clemson (Dabo Swinney’s tigers have since fallen to 3-5 and 2-4 in ACC play).
LSU picked up three more wins to move to 4-0 on the season, moving them to No. 4 in the Week 5 US LBM Coaches Poll. Since then, it has been downhill for the Tigers: They have endured three losses in their last four games, including a lopsided 49-25 loss to No. 3 Texas A&M in Week 9 that ultimately resulted in Kelly’s firing.
Wilson will now be tasked with leading LSU through the home stretch of the season — which includes three SEC games against Alabama, Arkansas and No. 18 Oklahoma — and getting at least one more win to become bowl eligible for the fourth consecutive season.
Heading into LSU’s rivalry game on Nov. 8 against Alabama, here’s a closer look at the Tigers’ interim head coach Frank Wilson:
Who is coaching LSU?
Wilson will lead the Tigers, in an interim role, for their final four games of the 2025 regular season.
Before being elevated to interim coach by former LSU athletic director Scott Woodward, Wilson was in his fourth season of his second stint as a Tigers assistant coach. He returned to LSU ahead of the 2022 season to serve as Kelly’s associate head coach and running backs coach, a decision that saw him resign from his head coaching position at McNeese State, where he was 7-11 in two years.
His first stint at LSU came during the Les Miles and Ed Orgeron eras from 2010-15. He was hired away from Tennessee, where he served as a wide receiver coach, before the 2010 season. Orgeron retained him when he was elevated from defensive line coach to head coach in 2016.
“There’s no place like LSU. There’s something about the people. It’s not bricks and mortar, it’s the people,” Wilson said on Tuesday, Oct. 28 during a media availability, according to The Daily Advertiser, part of the USA TODAY Network. “It’s important (for) our state. It cuts deep. It’s totally different than another that you get to work at. It becomes a part of you. It pulls you in. That’s why you say, ‘Forever LSU.'”
Wilson has also built a strong recruiting reputation. As noted by his LSU profile page, he helped the Tigers to four top-10 recruiting classes from 2010-2015, including the No. 2-ranked class and No. 5-ranked class in 2014 and 2015, respectively. On Kelly’s staff, Wilson helped LSU build three straight top-10 high school recruiting classes, per 247Sports Composite rankings. LSU also had the top transfer recruiting class this season, according to the site.
He has coached seven running backs at LSU who went on to the NFL, including Leonard Fournette, who was drafted No. 4 overall by the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2017.
Frank Wilson coaching career
Wilson started coaching at his alma mater, Nicholls State, as a student assistant in 1996. He then coached at New Orleans’ Karr High School as an assistant from 1997-99 and at O.P. Walker High School as a head coach from 2000-03.
His first Power Four college football experience came in 2005, when he was hired at Ole Miss as a running backs and special teams coach on David Cutcliffe’s staff. After stops at Southern Miss (2008) and Tennessee (2009), Wilson was hired at LSU to serve as the Tigers’ running backs coach and recruiting coordinator.
He earned his first head coaching opportunity in 2016, when he was hired at UTSA. He spent three seasons leading the Roadrunners, leading the program to a 19-29 record and appearance in the New Mexico Bowl, before getting fired after the 2019 season. He took over at McNeese in the same position in 2020, holding that position for just two seasons before returning to Baton Rouge as Kelly’s associate head coach and running backs coach.
Here’s a stop-by-stop breakdown of Wilson’s coaching career:
Head coach unless otherwise specified
- 1996: Nicholls State (student assistant)
- 1997-1999: Karr High School (assistant coach)
- 2000-2003: O.P. Walker High School
- 2005-2007: Ole Miss (running backs coach, special teams coach)
- 2008: Southern Miss (running backs coach, recruiting coordinator)
- 2009: Tennessee (wide receivers coach)
- 2010-2015: LSU (running backs coach, recruiting coordinator)
- 2016-2019: UTSA
- 2020-2021: McNeese State
- 2022-2025: LSU (associate head coach, running backs coach)
- 2025: LSU (interim coach)
Frank Wilson record
Wilson enters Saturday’s game at Alabama with a 26-40 overall record across his tenures at UTSA and McNeese, the latter of which competes as a Division I FCS program.
Here’s a year-by-year look at Wilson’s head-coaching career:
- 2016 (UTSA): 6-7
- 2017 (UTSA): 6-5
- 2018 (UTSA): 3-9
- 2019 (UTSA): 4-8
- 2020 (McNeese): 3-4
- 2021 (McNeese): 4-7
