The Zeitgeist List · coaching

Frank Wilson

Followed Larry Coker. Frank Wilson held UTSA at Regional Program III for 4 seasons.

21–32

2016–now · 2 stints

UTSA LSU

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In his own words

Awaiting signal — no quotes collected from this staff yet this cycle.

Career arc

His real stature score, season by season, across every program he’s coached — so a stretch that stays in one tier the whole way can still climb or sink on the line, not just flatten out. Node color marks the tier reached. Which program a stretch belongs to is carried by the shaded lane behind it.

Reached Blue Blood in his 5th career season — faster than 35% of the 100 FBS coaches who have ever reached Blue Blood (rank #58 of 100 by seasons-to-arrival).

UTSA, 4 seasons

−1.3

Regional Program III → Regional Program IV.

Style position and drift

Where each stint’s offense sat between run-first and pass-first, and how far it moved from one season to the next. The band is that stint’s real season-to-season range, not a fixed-width box.

Pass rate — share of offensive plays that were pass attemptsfirst covered seasonmost recent covered seasonfull season-to-season range (3+ covered seasons)

How much that is, against every other stint

Season-to-season pass-rate range for all 258 FBS coaching stints with at least three covered seasons, 2014–2025.

Typical stint7.010.2 median13.9middle half of all stints

UTSA12.3pt#88 of 258 · a typical amount

The big-game ledger

How he does in the games that matter most — rivalry record, performance broken out by real opponent tier, one-score games, and his toughest historical matchup.

1–0 against his rivals. Winless in 4 tries against Skip Holtz.

Rivalry record

1–0

100.0% · 1 rival

One-score games

5–8

38.5% · margin ≤8

Rivalry ledger

Texas State1–0100%

The toughest matchup

vs. Skip Holtz0–4

4 meetings, 2016–2019

’16 L’17 L’18 L’19 L · blew a 3-pt lead

0% win rate across a real, 4-meeting series — short of the bar this site uses before badging a series “Nemesis.” Shown here as the toughest matchup on record, not an algorithmic crown.

Performance by opponent class

Power Program

0–3 0.0%

National Program

2–9 18.2%

Regional Program

12–17 41.4%

Coaching career

2025–now

LSU

too new to grade yet

8th-best LSU tenure of 16 by the numbers.

Recruiter or developer?

Underperforms his recruiting talent on offense and performs about as expected for his recruiting talent on defense.

Offense vs. talent

-46.5 pts

#208 of 208 · less than most

Defense vs. talent

+6.9 pts

#74 of 208 · a typical amount

Recruiting talent is team-wide (no offense/defense split exists in the source data) -- both sides are scored against the same talent input, only the outcome is side-specific.

Roster construction · portal era

A typical amount of portal roster-building.

Portal arrivals

3.6★ avg rating

Portal departures

left via the portal

Net portal flow

-5

#51 of 187 FBS stints

Notable portal arrivals with a modeled NIL value

Braelin Moore On3 modeled · $1,000,000

On3’s modeled estimate (social reach / exposure), not money actually paid — shown per player, never totaled.

Who they bring in

Brings in bigger-than-position-typical players than most.

Recruits younger transfers than most — more of a development bet.

Avg. size (raw)

6′2″, 234 lbs

across 16 of 18 arrivals — unadjusted for position mix

Size vs. position-typical

+7.3 lbs

#49 of 255 · more than most

Avg. class year

#215 of 255 · less than most

Top states: AL (3), FL (3), TX (2), TN (2), MD (2)

Who won the portal our read

Talent added

58.0

position-weighted

Talent lost

53.6

position-weighted

Net

+4.4

arrivals minus departures

Best addition: Michael Van Buren Jr. (QB) from Mississippi State

Biggest loss: Rickie Collins (QB) to Syracuse

Position-value-weighted (QB/CB weighted highest, depth-decayed within each position) — the same scoring engine as the Portal Heat feed, not a separate grade.

Where the roster comes from, by position

Buys Edge via the portal

75%

#23 of 208 stints

Buys Tight end via the portal

67%

#23 of 188 stints

Grows Linebacker from high school

100%

#205 of 225 stints

Postseason detail2025: Lost to Houston 35–38 Kinder's Texas Bowl

14 NFL Draft picks: Will Campbell (2025), Mason Taylor (2025), Emery Jones Jr. (2025), Sai'vion Jones (2025), Bradyn Swinson (2025), Miles Frazier (2025), Garrett Dellinger (2025), Mansoor Delane (2026) + 6 more

1 player-season honored (All-America / national award): Mansoor Delane (2025)

2–3

2016–2019

UTSAcaretaker

Regional Program III → Regional Program III

Frank Wilson held UTSA at Regional Program III for 4 seasons.

3rd-best UTSA tenure of 3 by the numbers.

Recruiter or developer?

Underperforms his recruiting talent on offense and performs about as expected for his recruiting talent on defense.

Offense vs. talent

-19.8 pts

#176 of 208 · less than most

Defense vs. talent

+10.9 pts

#63 of 208 · a typical amount

Recruiting talent is team-wide (no offense/defense split exists in the source data) -- both sides are scored against the same talent input, only the outcome is side-specific.

Followed Larry Coker (2012–2015) · succeeded by Jeff Traylor (2020–2026).

Season	2016	2017	2018	2019
Record & result
Record	6–7	6–5	3–9	4–8
Postseason	L bowl	—	—	—
Recruiting rank	#103	#75	#85	#96
Style — pass rate
Pass rate	42.2	41.0	53.3	44.7
Coordinators
OC	Frank Scelfo	Frank Scelfo	Al Borges	Jeff Kastl
DC	Pete Golding	Pete Golding	Jason Rollins	Jason Rollins
Outcome — opponent-adjusted efficiency percentile
Offense	46	14	1	25
Defense	72	83	22	36
Tendencies — play-by-play, neutral script (2021+ only)
1st-down pass%	36.6	37.7	44.6	41.1
Red-zone pass%	37.1	33.3	53.7	35.5
4th-down go%opp. territory	54.3	25.0	20.0	46.9

Does the system survive a coordinator change?

OC: Frank Scelfo → Al Borges · 2018

1-season window either side — numbers shown, not enough to badge a verdict.

1st-down pass rate: 37.7% → 44.6% (+6.9 pts)

Confound, shown not hidden: only 5% of offensive production returned the year the coordinator changed — the roster turned over at the same time, not just the play-caller.

OC: Al Borges → Jeff Kastl · 2019

1-season window either side — numbers shown, not enough to badge a verdict.

1st-down pass rate: 44.6% → 41.1% (-3.6 pts)

Confound, shown not hidden: only 39% of offensive production returned the year the coordinator changed — the roster turned over at the same time, not just the play-caller.

DC: Pete Golding → Jason Rollins · 2018the defense collapsed across the change

2-season window either side.

Where the roster comes from, by position

Grows Tight end from high school

100%

#164 of 188 stints

Grows Edge from high school

100%

#191 of 208 stints

Postseason detail2016: Lost to New Mexico 20–23 Gildan New Mexico Bowl

2 NFL Draft picks: David Morgan (2016), Marcus Davenport (2018)

19–29