Ex Buckeyes Coach Kevin Wilson Reflects on Ohio State, New Job at Tulsa
Former Ohio State Buckeyes tight ends coach Kevin Wilson spoke Monday with host RJ Young on FOX's "The Number One College Football Show" about his past with the Buckeyes and his future as head coach of Tulsa.
Wilson accepted the open position with the Golden Hurricane after spending five seasons at Ohio State from 2017 to 2022. Before the Buckeyes, Wilson was offensive coordinator at Oklahoma, located only two hours away from the Tulsa campus.
Young asked why Wilson made the choice to leave Ohio State to take the job at Tulsa. Wilson said had to capitalize on the chance to return to being head coach, an opportunity that he said does not come around often.
"You don't get the chance to be a head coach a lot, you know, RJ," Wilson said. "When the opportunity came, it wasn't about ego, it wasn't I needed to show anyone I could do it...I thought I had one good swing to lead a program and to make an impact and make a change, and when this one came open...it seemed like a good fit."
The last time Wilson served as a head coach was with the Indiana Hoosiers (another Big Ten team like Ohio State) between 2011 and 2016.
Wilson said he was grateful for his time as an assistant coach at Ohio State, and said he felt he did everything he could to contribute to the rest of the coaching staff and the team.
"I tried very hard to be a great assistant coach at Ohio State," Wilson said. "I tried to do the job that was asked, and to be a good teammate, and to be someone that tried to bring something to the table that did what was best for the team. "
Wilson spoke highly of his Buckeye colleagues, saying that not only was Ohio State great at recruiting talent, but it also had a staff that cared about each individual on the team.
"It was the best place I'd ever been with everyone working to do what was best for the players," Wilson said. "I thought the best thing about Ohio State was the strength of the people, but most importantly, how the people worked for the player."
Ohio State hosted Tulsa at Ohio Stadium on September 18, 2021 in the most recent exhibition of what is typically a rarely-seen matchup.
It is therefore unclear when Wilson and the Buckeyes will next meet on the football field. Whenever it ends up being, it sounds like the reunion will be more of a friendly competition rather than a moment for either side to get revenge.
Be sure to stay locked into BuckeyesNow all the time!
Join the BuckeyesNow community!
Subscribe to the BuckeyesNow YouTube channel
You can follow Caleb Spinner on Twitter: @CalebSpinner
Follow BuckeyesNow on Twitter: @BuckeyesNow_FN
Follow BuckeyesNow on Instagram: @BuckeyesNow_FN
