Experienced. Successful. A Leader.
Experienced. Successful. A Leader.
An exciting offense-minded coach with experience in taking teams to the next level.
Kevin Wilson is in his fourth season as the Buckeyes’ offensive coordinator and tight ends coach. He was named to the position in January 2017. The former Indiana University head coach, who has 18 years of coordinator experience, has directed some of the most innovative and prolific offenses in the nation over his 36-year coaching career.
Ohio State has featured one of top offenses nationally over the past three years with Wilson on staff. Between 2017 and 2019, the Buckeyes have:
The range of diversity is nothing unusual for Wilson. Twice he’s been on an offensive staff – at Oklahoma and Indiana – that has produced a 3,500-yard passer, two 1,000-yard rushers and a 1,000-yard receiver in the same year, and Ohio State came within 46 rushing yards from Mike Weber in 2018 to giving Wilson a third team to accomplish the feat.
Additionally, Ohio State’s offense has finished Nos. 7, 2 and 4 in total offense and Nos. 6, 8 and 3 in scoring offense in 2017, 2018 and 2019, respectively.
Ohio State has also won three consecutive Big Ten championships plus owns a Cotton Bowl win over USC in 2018, a Rose Bowl win over Washington in 2019 and advanced to the College Football Playoffs this past year.
Wilson spent six seasons as Indiana University coach and led the school to consecutive bowl games in 2015 and 2016 for the first time in 25 years. His teams were physical, and highly competitive against Ohio State – games decided by three, seven and 14 points twice – behind a productive passing attack that led the Big Ten Conference three times, in 2012, 2013 and 2015, while finishing second in 2016. His 2015 offense led the Big Ten in passing, total offense and scoring.
His tenure at IU was not only an exciting offensive era for IU, but it also featured an average of 21 academic all-Big Ten players each year and was the second-longest tenure for an IU coach in the last 20 years, or since Bill Mallory’s 13-year run between 1984 and 1996.
Wilson coached under Bob Stoops for nine years at Oklahoma, serving as co-offensive coordinator from 2002-05 and offensive coordinator from 2006-10. During this time the Sooners won six Big 12 championships, played in three national championship games (2003, ’04 and ’08) and Wilson’s offenses “evolved into a beast,” according to published reports and featured a then-NCAA record 716 points scored in 2008 that still ranks No. 2 in FBS history.
After a successful playing career for the University of North Carolina Tar Heels, Wilson was an offensive coordinator to the late Randy Walker for seven years at Miami (1992-98) and then for three years at Northwestern (1999-2001), Wilson and Walker led the RedHawks to a 59-36-5 record before devising a power-spread offense at Northwestern that carried the Wildcats to a Big Ten Conference co-championship in 2000. Highlights of that season included Northwestern leading the Big Ten in rushing for the first time in 54 years.
A native of Maiden, N.C., Wilson is a 1984 graduate of the University of North Carolina, where he was an offensive lineman on the football team and received his bachelor’s (education; 1987) and master’s (physical education) degrees. His coaching career began in 1987 at Winston Salem State and includes stops at North Carolina A&T (1988) and Foard (N.C.) High School prior to his tenure at Miami.
Wilson, and his wife, Angela, are the parents of five children: daughters Elaina, Makenzie and Marlee, and sons Trey and Toby.