First-Year IU Football Coaches: Hoosiers Make Big Commitment To Kevin Wilson

Athletic director Fred Glass wanted Indiana's next coach to have the time to win.

November 5, 2011; Columbus, OH, USA; Indiana Hoosiers head coach Kevin Wilson reacts to his team's first down against the Ohio State Buckeyes at Ohio Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Greg Bartram-USA TODAY Sports / Greg Bartram-USA TODAY Sports

Indiana football had been in an endless cycle searching for its coaching savior.

Bill Mallory, Terry Hoeppner, and to a lesser extent, Lee Corso and John Pont, were exceptions to the trend of hiring either the hot name, a retread on the rebound, a pro prospect or an assistant from the former staff.

Athletic director Fred Glass took over the Indiana program in 2008. Glass did not come from a background in athletic administration. Unwedded to tradition or “the way things have always been done,” he saw the same trend in Indiana’s past.

How could he break it?

Glass decided that commitment was something that had been lacking when it came to football at Indiana. The school was usually near or at the bottom of the Big Ten in coaches’ salaries, facility improvement and other areas where Indiana was chronically behind in the athletic arms race.

With Big Ten Network money starting to become a factor – the network was founded in 2007 – every Big Ten school had the means to significantly increase their commitment to whatever they choose to invest in. For Glass, football was an area where the Hoosiers needed to up the ante.

As it related to coaches, part of that investment was going to be time. Whoever was going to be Indiana’s next coach was going to be given the keys to the kingdom to mold the Hoosiers into his own image as winners.

The man Glass found would begin to point Indiana in the right direction, but his progress had an abrupt end. That came later, but at the end of 2010? Indiana was excited to hitch its star to Kevin Wilson.

Why change?

After a four-year contract was given to Bill Lynch following a 7-6 campaign in 2007, things quickly went sour for the veteran head coach.

The Hoosiers won just one Big Ten game in 2008 and in 2009. Similar to the Cam Cameron and Gerry DiNardo coaching regimes, the defense went south. In 2008, the Hoosiers gave up 30 points or more in six of their final seven games.

With an athletic director in place who didn’t hire him – Glass – Lynch would have to show improvement in 2010, but that was not to be.

While the Hoosiers’ overall record improved to 5-7, they still won just one Big Ten contest. The nadir was an 83-20 loss at Wisconsin, a game in which the Badgers scored on all 13 of their offensive possessions.

A final game win over Purdue was not enough to save Lynch’s job.

“The bottom line is that three Big Ten wins in three years is not the basis for a (contract) extension and while it’s not an easy decision, I’m confident it’s the right one,” Glass said.

Enter Wilson

As it so often happens, the prevailing wisdom was that to bring about cultural change in the football program, there had to be a contrast in style from the previous regime.

Glass, who kept his cards close to his chest during the search,  did not use a search committee.

“I think anything I would say publicly would be option-limiting. I don’t want to say anything that would artificially limit our search,” Glass said.

Wilson, Oklahoma’s offensive coordinator at a time when the Sooners were near the top of college football under Bob Stoops’ leadership, was the man Glass found for Indiana.

To drive that point home? Wilson was given a seven-year contract, two years more than what is typical in the college game.

“Indiana needs to give continuity a try in its football program,” Glass said during Wilson’s introduction.

It made its commitment in monetary terms, too. Wilson’s contract paid him $8.4 million over his seven years as he became the first Indiana football coach to make over a million dollars per season.

What was Indiana getting in Wilson? A fast-paced offense and the veneer of toughness.

Year One

November 5, 2011; Columbus, OH, USA; Indiana Hoosiers quarterback Tre Roberson (5) is tackled by Ohio State Buckeyes defensive back Travis Howard (7) and Orhian Johnson (19) at Ohio Stadium. Ohio State won the game 34-20. Mandatory Credit: Greg Bartram-USA TODAY Sports / Greg Bartram-USA TODAY Sports

Going into the 2011 season, the thought was that Indiana would have to find playmakers offensively, but it had a base of six of their top eight tacklers back to anchor the defense.

As it turned out? The defensive side of the ball would be the main part of the problem in year one for Wilson.

A season-opening 27-20 home loss to Ball State augured bad things to come. Wilson’s first win came against FCS South Carolina State in Week 3 – and that’s all the new coach would get in season one.

In the final six games of the season, the Hoosiers would give up 30 points or more in each contest. Northwestern and Wisconsin each rolled up 59 points; Michigan State reached 55.

Indiana would finish 1-11, its worst record since Bill Mallory’s winless season in 1984.

It wasn’t an auspicious start, but time was on Wilson’s side to get the ship pointed in the right direction.

But it would fall apart abruptly in 2016 and Wilson finished 26-47 as Indiana’s coach.

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