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Wilson Named LInebackers Coach - TCU Athletics
FORT WORTH -- TCU Head Football Coach Sonny Dykes has announced the hiring of Ken Wilson as linebackers coach.
GoFrogs: Wilson Named LInebackers Coach
FORT WORTH -- TCU Head Football Coach Sonny Dykes has announced the hiring of Ken Wilson as linebackers coach.
Wilson served the previous two years as head coach at Nevada. In the 2019-20 seasons, he was the linebackers coach at Oregon under then Ducks' Defensive Coordinator and now TCU DC Andy Avalos. Wilson spent a total of three seasons in Eugene.
During his coaching career, Wilson has been part of 12 conference championships, including three at Oregon and 18 bowl games. Eight of his position players became NFL draft picks with 10 others signing NFL contracts. He has coached 35 all-conference selections, three conference players of the year, an All-American and Freshman All-American.
In Wilson's first season as head coach at Nevada in 2021, the Wolf Pack's defense made an immediate impact with nine takeaways in season-opening victories over New Mexico State and Texas State. Nevada totaled 35 takeaways in his two years as head coach.
Prior to taking over leadership of the program, Wilson was a Nevada assistant coach for 19 seasons which included five years as associate head coach (2008-12), four as defensive coordinator (1996-98, 2007) and 10 as a position coach (1989-95, 2004-06) with the defensive line, linebackers and safeties.
As the nation's youngest FBS defensive coordinator, Wilson directed Nevada's 1996 unit to the top of the conference in every statistical category and was part of the Las Vegas Bowl victory over Ball State.
During Wilson's coaching tenures, the Wolf Pack reached 11 bowl games and twice won the Western Athletic Conference (2005, 2010) to go with five Big West Conference championships (1992, 1994-97) and two Big Sky Conference titles (1990-91).
In between coaching, Wilson spent four years (1999-2003) in the Wolf Pack administration, serving as Assistant Athletics Director for Sports Services. He oversaw the football, men's basketball, baseball, track and field and tennis programs while coordinating grant-in-aid for all student-athletes in Nevada's 19-sport athletics program.
Wilson returned to the Nevada football sidelines in 2004 as assistant head coach and linebacker coach. He was with the Wolf Pack coaching staff for nine seasons before serving six years (2013-18) as linebackers coach at Washington State.
In his first two seasons at Oregon (2019-20), the Ducks won back-to-back Pac-12 Conference championships.
Oregon's 2020 defense was dominant in the Pac-12 Championship game, holding No. 13 USC to just 38 rushing yards on 28 carries in a 31-24 win. Wilson's linebackers, Mase Funa, Noah Sewell and Isaac Slade-Matautia, played a huge part in the win as they combined for 17 tackles, including one for loss.
Sewell, a five-star recruit, was a consensus Freshman All-American and the Pac-12 Freshman Defensive Player of the Year. He was named Honorable Mention All-Pac-12.
In Wilson's first season at Oregon in 2019, the Ducks won the Rose Bowl with a 28-27 victory over Wisconsin led by a defensive unit that ranked among the nation's elite.
Oregon ranked either first or second in the Pac-12 in every major defensive statistical category. The Ducks were also ninth in the nation in scoring defense, allowing just 16.5 points per game. The Ducks ranked 13th in rushing defense (108.9 yards per game) and 22nd in total defense (329.1 yards per game) with an improvement of nearly 57 yards from the previous season. Oregon was also second in the country in interceptions (20), sixth in passes defended (76), 13th in sacks (41.0) and 21st in tackles for loss (97.0).
Two of Wilson's linebackers finished the 2019 season in the top five on the team in tackles with Troy Dye posting a team-high 84 stops which included 9.5 for loss and 2.5 sacks.
Wilson made a major impact on the recruiting trail in his first two seasons in Eugene. In the 2020 247Sports recruiter rankings, Wilson was rated third in the Pac-12 and 29th in the nation. He helped Oregon finish with the country's No. 12 class which included a pair of linebackers who ranked among the nation's top 13 overall players.
In the 2021 cycle, Wilson continued to help Oregon be a national leader in recruiting as he was ranked No. 8 among Pac-12 coaches. The Ducks closed with the sixth-ranked class in the country while finishing with the Pac-12's top class for the second consecutive year.
Wilson first made his mark in the Pac-12 at Washington State. In his final season in Pullman in 2018, the Cougars recorded a program-record 11 wins, including a 28-26 victory over Iowa State in the Alamo Bowl, and a No. 10 ranking in both major polls. The Cougars led the Pac-12 and tied for 16th nationally in sacks (38) while ranking in the top three in the conference in takeaways, rushing defense and third-down defense.
Washington State's linebacker corps supplied the defense's leaders in tackles, tackles for loss and sacks. Peyton Pelluer and Jahad Woods both earned All-Pac-12 honors, while the position group totaled 37.5 tackles for loss and 17.5 sacks.
Wilson's linebacker group helped Washington State finish in the top four in the Pac-12 in tackles for loss each of his last four seasons in Pullman, highlighted by a league-best 103.0 in 2017 to place eighth nationally. The Cougars also finished in the top three in the Pac-12 in rushing defense each of his final three seasons (2016-2018).
A Virginia, Ill., native, Wilson is a graduate of North Central College while receiving a master's degree from New Mexico.
Wilson and his wife, Heather, have a son, Tyler, and daughter, Baylie. Tyler was a long snapper at Nevada from 2012-14.
