By RON HIGGINS, Journal Sports
BATON ROUGE – Frank Wilson’s first press conference on Tuesday as LSU’s interim football coach was like a reassuring uncle telling you everything is going to be OK.
If you ever previously met Wilson, a 52-year-old New Orleans native and proud St. Augustine High grad who has had two tours of duty as LSU’s running backs coach, it was exactly what was expected.
Calm, reasonable, matter-of-fact, it-is-what-it-is rhetoric.
Whether it will be enough to lift a sinking 5-3 team, torpedoed by three straight SEC losses and Sunday’s shocking firing of head coach Brian Kelly, to get one more win to become bowl eligible is another matter.
For now, Wilson, one of the best recruiters in LSU history who in his nine previous seasons has coached or recruited 47 players who have played in the NFL, just wants the Tigers to exhale.
“One day at a time, right?” said Wilson, who’s 26-40 in six seasons as head coach (four at Texas-San António, two at McNeese State). “And they range in emotions, and they were and they’re delicate, and they require real conversation, in real care, and straight talk and honest talk and transparency.
“And in those moments, I think when you go about doing business that way, there’s tremendous appreciation, there’s clarity that at least they know we’ve tried to conduct our business in that manner so that the people in the building understand this is where we’re at.
“This is the short term. This is what we’re hopeful for, all right, but this is where we’re at right now.“Let’s be the best version of us right now, and maybe, and just maybe, we can do enough that could affect the outcome of the future, but we have no control of that. All we can do is deal with what’s in the present time, in real time, and being the best version of us.”
Taking over as interim on LSU’s second open date of the season before resuming play at No. 4 Alabama on 8 is also emotional for Wilson, a former Nicholls running back/defensive back.
Twenty of his 29 years as a coach, whether as assistant or head coach, have been Louisiana-based. Spread between two high schools (Karr, O.P. Walker) and three colleges (Nicholls, LSU from 2010-15 under Les Miles, McNeese in 2020-21 as head coach, LSU 2022 to the present under Kelly), Wilson has been a welcome and familiar face in the living room of recruits for over four decades.
“It’s a tremendous, humbling moment for me,” Wilson said. “It’s something that you would dream of, something that you don’t know if it would ever come true, but something you prepare yourself for, and you take steps to position yourself to be able to do those things.
“This opportunity is so much bigger than me. I just happen to be the caretaker at this moment for this wonderful institution that we so love. It’s our flagship state university. We have tremendous pride in it.
“I chose to come back here (in 2022) because there’s no place like LSU. When you speak of LSU, you can talk about the beautiful stadium, this beautiful (practice) facility that we’re in.
“But LSU is not bricks and mortar. It’s the people who make LSU what it is. It’s the people in this building, it’s the people in this community, it’s the people in this state that gravitate, that pull you in, and it’s why we say forever LSU, because it’s not just a job for me.”
With offensive coordinator Joe Sloan fired Monday morning, one of Wilson’s priorities was tweaking his staff.
He named tight ends coach/running game coordinator Alex Atkins as the offensive play caller. Atkins joined LSU’s staff last January after serving as Florida State’s offensive coordinator from 2022-2024.
Also, offensive analyst and former Louisiana Tech star quarterback Tim Rattay will take over Sloan’s other duty as quarterbacks coach.
“Alex has a background as a play caller,” Wilson said. “Tim has a background as a play caller. I feel very confident they’ll give us the best opportunity in both the run and pass game collectively to present ourselves.”
“Collectively as an offensive staff, we will brainstorm. We’ll work holistically with one another to devise a game plan that gives us the best opportunity to win a football. That’s our sole and focal point.”
It all sounds good in theory. But even before injuries turned LSU’s depth-depleted offensive line into traffic cops waving opposing pass rushers directly to Tigers’ starting quarterback Garrett Nussmeier, it couldn’t block anybody.
The lack of improvement in LSU’s offense – 96th nationally in total offense (365.5 yards per game), 122nd in rushing offense (106.2 ypg) and 82nd in scoring defense (25.5 points per game, including 21.6 in SEC play) – contributed to Kelly’s firing.
“We have tremendous weapons that we haven’t utilized to the full potential for whatever reason,” Wilson said.
Contact Ron at ronhigginsmedia@gmail.com