LSU, Brian Kelly announce hire of Louisiana native Frank Wilson
Brian Kelly’s first staff at LSU is starting to come together. LSU officially announced the addition of former LSU assistant, UTSA and McNeese State head coach Frank Wilson on Tuesday.
Wilson is joining the Tigers staff as Brian Kelly’s associate head coach. The 48-year-old was twice named recruiter of the year while he was an assistant with LSU. He’s also a New Orleans native.
“Frank Wilson has a proven track record of identifying, recruiting, and developing elite student-athletes everywhere he has been,” Brian Kelly said in a statement. “No one knows the recruiting landscape in Louisiana better than Frank, and his experience and character will be tremendous resources for our staff and student-athletes. His impact on our staff at LSU will be immediate and immense. We are thrilled he is returning home to ensure that we continue to sign the best student-athletes in Louisiana and throughout the country.”
Wilson spent six years on the LSU coaching staff, serving as running backs coach and recruiting coordinator. During that time, the Tigers had four top 10 recruiting classes, including the No. 2 class in 2014 and the No. 5 class in 2015.
Wilson helped LSU to six bowl appearances, including the 2012 BCS National Championship game. As a head coach at UTSA and McNeese State, Wilson went 26-40 in six seasons.
“I will forever be grateful to the coaches, staff, and student-athletes I have been fortunate to work with at McNeese State, and I will always remember the lessons I have learned in my six seasons as a head coach,” Wilson said. “But the opportunity to return home to LSU and join Coach Kelly’s staff was one my family and I simply could not pass up. I could not be more excited to return to Baton Rouge and do whatever I can to help the Tigers consistently compete for and win championships.”
Brian Kelly adding Brian Polian to Tigers staff
Notre Dame special teams coordinator Brian Polian is the latest Irish assistant set to join new LSU head coach Brian Kelly, per Bruce Feldman of “The Athletic.”
The former linebacker has been in his position in South Bend since 2017. Also, he served as recruiting coordinator and associate head coach. While Polian’s exact responsibilities have not come out, he would presumably oversee special teams in Baton Rouge as well.
In addition to being the head coach at Nevada from 2013-2016, Polian has been an assistant at several schools, including Stanford and Texas A&M. He coached under both former head coach Jim Harbaugh and current head coach David Shaw at Stanford. His time with the Aggies was during former standout quarterback Johnny Manziel’s time in College Station. He coached both special teams and tight ends that season.
In addition to his resume, Polian’s father is well-known in the football world. Bill Polian was the general manager of the Buffalo Bills, Carolina Panthers and Indianapolis Colts.
Jacob Flint leaves South Bend
Polian is the second coach to leave South Bend for Baton Rouge, as co-director of strength and conditioning Jacob Flint is reportedly heading south as well.
Flint has traveled with Kelly to multiple stops during his career. He was a walk-on at Central Michigan while Kelly was the head coach. Additionally, Flint spent 2007-2009 at Cincinnati with Kelly before coming to Notre Dame with him in 2010.
Flint spent the last few years of his time at Notre Dame working alongside Matt Balis. As Notre Dame’s director of football performance, Balis elected not to follow Kelly to LSU.
On the topic of other potential moves, rumors are swirling around Notre Dame offensive line coach Jeff Quinn.
On3’s Ashton Pollard contributed to this report.