Wilson humbled to be living dream leading Tigers

By Hunt Palmer

Frank Wilson needed a message for his team.

He recalled the scenes from Pearl Harbor when the naval base was under attack by the invading Japanese airstrikes, and the sirens sounded as an alert. The U.S. naval troops stationed on the island responded. On Tuesday, those sirens sounded on LSU’s practice field.

“We emulated that today for our football team, and as those sirens went off for the rally call, our team merged together at the 50 yard line,” Wilson said. “We held up all four of our fingers on both hands. We chanted fourth quarter. We chanted finish, because we’re all in. We’re all in to finish what we started. And some of that noise was simply our team answering to the rally call, being there for one another in a tough situation.”

Wilson was tasked Sunday with leading LSU’s football program in dismissed head coach Brian Kelly’s stead. He didn’t hesitate when asked.

“When that happens, you answer the bell when mother university calls for you,” Wilson said. “You answer. You pull up your bootstraps, and you do what’s required and asked of you to represent our university.”

Wilson spent six seasons at LSU under Les Miles from 2010 to 2015. He left to become the head coach at UTSA and then McNeese State before returning to LSU in 2022 under Kelly.

Monday morning, he woke up as the leader of the program.

“It’s a tremendous, humbling moment for myself,” Wilson said. “I started off as junior high coach as Edna Karr (in New Orleans) that became an assistant then became a 26-year-old head coach. Guys like J.T. Curtis were my mentors…I’m a part of the fiber of this state. It’s something that you would dream of, something you don’t know if it would ever come true, but something you prepare yourself for…I recognize the opportunity is so much bigger than me. I just happen to be the caretaker at this moment for this wonderful institution that we so love. It’s our flagship state university. We have tremendous pride in it. I will do my very best and die trying to represent us as a state as a community to the best of my ability with dignity, with honor, with pride the way LSU has always been and will always be.”

Wilson delegated new staff responsibilities on Monday morning. Offensive coordinator Joe Sloan was fired. Tight ends coach and running game coordinator Alex Atkins will call plays. Quarterbacks coach Tim Rattay will help with the passing game.

From there, it became about the players who are without the head coach they chose to play for.

Young people are often said to be adaptive and resilient. They also need leadership. Often times the early days of the open date are light days at the facility. Rest is encouraged. Wilson felt it important to get the team together.

“It’s been hard,” Wilson said. “It’s an array of emotions, of feelings, of a roller coaster. But we’ve been there for one another. So, when the news broke Sunday, we were here together. We were here together on Monday. We’ve here together today on Tuesday and (will be) on Wednesday where at times in the bye week you would not have been together. We have bonded closer. We’ve taken up the slack for those who may not have been as strong as others to be supportive of one another during this time…Let’s finish what we started.”

LSU started a season ranked in the top 10 and soared into the top five with national title aspirations. Those are now gone, washed away from three losses in four games. Now it’s about finding motivation in other aspects of the game.

Wilson delivered that message.

“You have a responsibility to the man that’s next to you to be a great teammate, to individually continue to develop yourself to the best version of you in whatever that is,” he said. “If you’re a freshman, to your continuous development. If you’re a veteran player with desires to be an all-conference player, to continue your development. If you’re a guy that has aspirations of playing in the National Football League, to continue your development. We have a lot of season still left for us, four regular season games that we have to conduct our business. How will that look? It’s up to us to determine that fate.”

Four wins or four losses, for Wilson it will be living out a dream. His feeling for LSU run deep. He’s never hidden that.

“Put it this way, I was a head coach at another university in this state,” Wilson said. “I left that university as the head coach to come back here. I chose to come back here because it’s a very unique place. There’s no place like LSU. I’ve worked at universities in this conference around this country, and there’s something about the people here. When you speak of LSU, you can talk about the beautiful stadium, the pantheon, the steel, this beautiful facility that we’re in. But LSU’s not bricks and mortar. It’s the people…It’s totally different than another school where you just go to work. You become a part of it, and it becomes a part of you. It’s the people in this building. It’s the people in this community. It’s the people in this state that gravitates and pulls you in. It’s why we say, ‘Forever LSU’.”