Ken Wilson (born February 17, 1964) is an American

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

coach who serves as the

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

s coach at

TCU TCU may stand for: Education * Tanzania Commission for Universities, regulatory body for Universities in Tanzania * Texas Christian University, a private university in Fort Worth, Texas ** TCU Horned Frogs, the athletic programs of the school * Tok ...

a position he has held since 2024. He served as the head football coach at the

University of Nevada The University of Nevada, Reno (Nevada, the University of Nevada, or UNR) is a public land-grant research university in Reno, Nevada, United States. It is the state's flagship public university and primary land grant institution. It was founded ...

from 2022 to 2023. Before becoming the head coach, he coached as an assistant at Nevada for 19 seasons, from 1989 to 1998 and 2004 to 2012.

Coaching career

Assistant at Nevada

Wilson began coaching at Nevada in 1989. He spent a total of 19 seasons as an assistant coach there in two stints, from 1989 to 1998 and 2004 to 2012. In between he worked as an associate athletic director for Nevada. At Nevada he coached throughout the defense, while serving as

defensive coordinator A defensive coordinator (DC) is a coach responsible for a gridiron football team's defense. Generally, the defensive coordinator, offensive coordinator and special teams coordinator represent the second level of a team's coaching structure, wit ...

for four seasons. From 1996 to 1998 Wilson was the youngest NCAA Division I defensive coordinator.

Washington State

From 2013 to 2019, Wilson worked as the linebackers coach under Mike Leach at

Washington State University Washington State University (WSU, or colloquially Wazzu) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Pullman, Washington, United States. Founded in 1890, WSU is also one of the oldest Land-grant uni ...

Oregon

In 2020, Wilson joined the staff at the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a Public university, public research university in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1876, the university is organized into nine colleges and schools and offers 420 undergraduate and gra ...

as linebackers coach. In 2021, he signed a new contract and was given the title of co-defensive coordinator while coaching the inside linebackers.

Head coach at Nevada

After spending nine seasons away from Nevada, Wilson was confirmed to be returning to the university on December 10, 2021, as head coach. Nevada fired Wilson following the 2023 season. Over two years Wilson posted a 4–20 record.

TCU

On January 16, 2024, Wilson joined the staff at

Texas Christian University Texas Christian University (TCU) is a private university, private research university in Fort Worth, Texas, United States. It was established in 1873 by brothers Addison Clark, Addison and Randolph Clark as the AddRan Male & Female College. It i ...

as the linebackers coach.

Personal life

Wilson and his wife, Heather, have a son, Tyler, who played football at Nevada, and a daughter, Baylie.

Head coaching record

References

External links

*
Nevada profile

TCU profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Ken 1964 births Living people American football linebackers American football tight ends Baseball first basemen North Central Cardinals baseball players North Central Cardinals football coaches North Central Cardinals football players Nevada Wolf Pack football coaches New Mexico Lobos football coaches Oregon Ducks football coaches TCU Horned Frogs football coaches Washington State Cougars football coaches People from Virginia, Illinois Coaches of American football from Illinois Players of American football from Illinois Baseball players from Cass County, Illinois 20th-century American sportsmen