LSU
Assistant Coaches Frank Wilson
Running Backs/Recruiting Coordinator YEAR AT LSU: BIRTHDATE: WIFE: CHILDREN: HIGH SCHOOL: COLLEGE:
Second (appointed Dec. 7, 2009) Nov. 5, 1973 in New Orleans Tiffany Alaina, Sa’bree, and Frank IV St. Augustine High School Nicholls State, ‘97 Southern University-New Orleans, ‘02
PLAYING EXPERIENCE 1992 1993-95
Geneva (Pa.) University (running back) Nicholls State (running back/defensive back)
COACHING EXPERIENCE 1996 1997-99 2000-03 2005-07 2008 2009 2010-11
Nicholls State (student assistant) Karr High School (assistant coach) O.P. Walker High School (head coach) Ole Miss (running backs/special teams) Southern Miss (running backs/recruiting coordinator) Tennessee (wide receivers) LSU (running backs/recruiting coordinator)
BOWL EXPERIENCE Year Bowl 2008 New Orleans 2011 Cotton
Frank and Tiffany Wilson with daughters Alaina and Sa’bree and son Frank IV. Team Southern Miss LSU
Opponent Troy Texas A&M
Results W, 30-27 W, 41-24
Frank Wilson, widely considered one of the top recruiters in college football, is in his second season as LSU’s running backs coach and recruiting coordinator in 2011. In two years as LSU’s recruiting coordinator, Wilson has engineered LSU signing classes that have ranked among the top 10 in the nation, including a sixth-rated class in 2011. Wilson was named Recruiter of the Year by Rivals.com for his efforts in helping LSU land a top 10 class last February. On the field, Wilson, despite not having a senior as a primary ball carrier, the Tiger running game has thrived behind the play of young players. This year, LSU’s backfield consists of three sophomores and a true freshman as the Tigers are averaging 215 rushing yards and tied a school record with 35 rushing touchdowns. Michael Ford leads the group with 755 yards and seven TDs, followed by Spencer Ware with 700 yards and eight scores. For the first time in school history, LSU’s backfield features four running backs who have each accounted for at least seven rushing TDs. Also, for the first time since 1997, LSU has three running backs go over the 500-yard mark in the same season. LSU has had four different running backs lead the team in rushing this year. In 2010, junior Stevan Ridley, in his first season as a starter, rushed for 1,147 yards and 15 touchdowns on his way to earning first team All-SEC honors. Ridley, who opted to forgo his senior season, went on to be drafted in the third round by the New England Patriots. Ridley was backed up by a trio of freshmen, including Ford (244 yards, 3 TDs) and Ware, who rushed for 102 yards in the Cotton Bowl win over Texas A&M. Wilson, a native of New Orleans, joined the LSU staff after spending the 2009 season at Tennessee, where he coached wide receivers. Prior to joining the Tennessee staff, Wilson spent the 2008 season at Southern Mississippi as running back coach and recruiting coordinator. He also served as running backs coach and special teams assistant at Ole Miss from 2005-07. In his second year with the Rebels, Wilson’s primary pupil, BenJarvus Green-Ellis, finished third in the SEC in rushing at 83.2 yards per game. Green-Ellis was named All-SEC first team by Associated Press. Under Wilson’s tutelage, Green-Ellis finished the season with 1,000 yards, fourth on the Ole Miss season charts, and has since become a 1,000-yard rusher in the NFL with the Patriots. Wilson joined the Ole Miss staff after serving one year as Director of Athletics for the New Orleans Public School System. He served 3½ seasons as head football coach and offensive coordinator at O. Perry Walker High School in that city prior to his stint as director of athletics. While at O. Perry Walker, Wilson led the Chargers to the 2002 Class 4A state finals and to District 10-4A championships in 2001 and 2002. He was honored by the NFL as the 2002 Coach of the Year for the state of Louisiana and was voted by his peers as the Louisiana Class 4A Coach of the Year. Wilson also was a 2002 Nike National Coach of the Year finalist. Wilson coached the Orleans Parish All-Star team against the Jefferson Parrish All-Star team in 2002, leading his group of players to the win in the Louisiana Superdome. He also was honored as 2001 state metro area and district coach of the year. During his three-year at O. Perry Walker, Wilson helped guide 22 players to Division I scholarships, including 11 in 2002 to rank as the nation’s largest class of Division I signees by any one high school. Wilson spent three years as an assistant coach at Edna Karr High School, also in New Orleans, from 1997-2000. He served as offensive coordinator at Edna Karr during the 1999 season in which the team reached the Class 3A state finals and the offense recorded the best statistical season in the program’s history. Wilson got his start in coaching as a student assistant at his alma mater, Nicholls State University, working with the running backs while he finished his degree. While at Nicholls State, Wilson helped coach the first 1,000-yard rusher in school history and was part of the
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biggest turnaround in NCAA history for the Colonels, who improved from 0-10 in 1995 to 8-2 in 1996. A three-year letterman on the football team at Nicholls State, Wilson earned honorable mention all-conference honors as a running back his sophomore year. He was also named preseason all-conference as a defensive back his junior year and as a running back his senior year. Wilson attended Geneva University in Beaver Falls, Pa., his freshman season, earning conference Freshman of the Year honors as a tailback and kick returner. He also earned first team all-conference honors and was an NAIA Division II All-America honorable mention. Wilson received his Bachelor of Arts degree in general education from Nicholls State in 1997. He then went on to earn a certificate of education in biology from Southern University in New Orleans in 2002. Wilson and his wife, Tiffany, have three children: Alaina, Sa’bree and Frank IV.
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