The ongoing scandal at Northwestern that brought about the firing of football coach Pat Fitzgerald this summer brought back memories of 2016 in Bloomington.
Fitzgerald was fired after an investigation into hazing within his program. And seven years ago, then IU football coach Kevin Wilson was operating under a cloud of alleged player mistreatment that led then Athletic Director Fred Glass to cut the coach loose after six seasons.
Glass cited “philosophical differences” as the reason behind his decision, but it was later reported allegations of player mistreatment played a central role.
Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer seemingly had Wilson on speed dial when IU announced Wilson had “resigned” in December, 2016. The Buckeyes hired Wilson as offensive coordinator just a month after IU terminated him.
After a successful stint as OC in Columbus, Wilson is back in a head coaching role. For the first time since he led the Hoosiers to a bowl eligibility clinching win over Purdue in 2016, the new leader of the Tulsa football program will coach his first game on Aug. 31 . Wilson will also coach a home game against his former employer Oklahoma in September, and he’ll also see former Hoosiers Kalen DeBoer and Michael Penix in Seattle when he faces Washington.
As a lead up to the 2023 season, the Tulsa World published a very interesting profile of Wilson’s coaching career, which most recently included stops at Oklahoma, IU and Ohio State.
The Tulsa World piece included comments from Meyer, who knew Wilson before his time at IU, and coached against him when Wilson was leading the Hoosiers.
Meyer didn’t mince words when it came to the allegations against Wilson that ultimately ended his tenure in Bloomington.
“We at Ohio State did our homework … that was all crap,” Meyer told The Tulsa World. “He’s an incredible man. He truthfully does things the right way. A lot of people genuinely want to be around him, including myself.”
Meyer added Wilson is “one of the greatest football minds he’s met.”
Wilson was more diplomatic in the article when it came to his time at IU.
“In spite of how it all went down, loved my time at Indiana. I did,” Wilson said. “(Glass) had to make a decision and whether or not I agreed with it at the time, in the moment, he made a call in the best interest of (Indiana).”
It’s a very interesting profile by the Tulsa World with a lot of additional insights into Wilson’s tenure at IU.
- Wilson talks about how difficult it was to recruit at the IU program when he arrived following the 2010 season.
- How he turned to Tom Crean (who is also quoted in the story) for help with recruiting. Crean, who was fired just a few months after Wilson, said the football coach never got a fair shot at IU, and seemed to imply one thing he had in common with Wilson was being “very intelligent.”
- Wilson talks about the three losses in 2015 that still haunt him.
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