The Zeitgeist List · coaching

Kevin Wilson

Followed Philip Montgomery. Kevin Wilson slid Tulsa from Regional Program I to Regional Program II in 2 seasons.

The builder
33–63
2011–2024 · 2 stints
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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.

Stature score reached, by season of his head-coaching careerINDIANATULSARegional Programthe building-block levelIndiana, 2011: 1-11, Regional Program IV2011Indiana, 2012: 4-8, Regional Program IV2012Indiana, 2013: 5-7, Regional Program III2013Indiana, 2014: 4-8, Regional Program III2014Indiana, 2015: 6-7, Regional Program II2015Indiana, 2016: 6-6, Regional Program II2016+3.4Tulsa, 2023: 4-8, Regional Program II2023Tulsa, 2024: 3-8, Regional Program III2024-4.1One point per coached season, in career order; dashed segments are program changes — spacing is not proportional to calendar time

Reached Regional Program in his 1st career season — faster than 20% of the 925 FBS coaches who have ever reached Regional Program (rank #1 of 925 by seasons-to-arrival).

Indiana, 6 seasons
+3.4
Regional Program IV → Regional Program II.
Tulsa, 2 seasons
−4.1
Regional Program II → Regional Program III.

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.

40%50%Indiana2011–2016▲ 9.3ptTulsa2023–2024▲ 10.5pt
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
Indiana9.3pt#143 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.

3–1 against his rivals. Winless in 5 tries against Mark Dantonio.

Rivalry record
3–1
75.0% · 1 rival
One-score games
7–21
25.0% · margin ≤8
vs. Blue Blood or better
0–5
0.0%
Rivalry ledger
Purdue3–175%
The toughest matchup
vs. Mark Dantonio0–5
5 meetings, 2011–2015
’11 L’12 L’13 L’14 L · blew a 3-pt lead’15 L · blew a 7-pt lead
0% win rate across a real, 5-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
Blue Blood
0–5 0.0%
Power Program
3–19 13.6%
National Program
3–9 25.0%
Regional Program
12–13 48.0%

His own effect, isolated

A statistical estimate of this coach’s contribution to team performance, separated from that season’s roster talent, returning production, and his coordinators — pooled across his whole head-coaching career.

Offense marginal impact
-0.08
#190 of 319 · a typical amount
Defense marginal impact
-0.45
#317 of 325 · less than most

Model fit as of 2026-09-04.

Coaching career

2023–2024
Tulsacaretaker
Regional Program I → Regional Program II
Kevin Wilson slid Tulsa from Regional Program I to Regional Program II in 2 seasons.

18th-best Tulsa tenure of 22 by the numbers.

Recruiter or developer?

Underperforms his recruiting talent, on both sides of the ball.

Offense vs. talent
-20.3 pts
#178 of 208 · less than most
Defense vs. talent
-43.3 pts
#208 of 208 · less than most
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 Philip Montgomery (2015–2022) · succeeded by Tre Lamb (2025–2026).

Season20232024Trend
Record & result
Record4–83–8
Postseason
Recruiting rank#114#54
Style — pass rate
Pass rate38.849.3
Coordinators
OCSteve Spurrier Jr.Steve Spurrier Jr.
DCChris PolizziChris Polizzi
Outcome — opponent-adjusted efficiency percentile
Offense437
Defense50
Tendencies — play-by-play, neutral script (2021+ only)
1st-down pass%29.438.5
Red-zone pass%42.647.8
4th-down go%opp. territory20.041.2
Roster construction · portal era

A typical amount of portal roster-building.

Portal arrivals
20
3.0★ avg rating
Portal departures
35
left via the portal
Net portal flow
-15
#125 of 187 FBS stints
Who they bring in

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

Recruits older, more experienced transfers than most.

Avg. size (raw)
6′1″, 220 lbs
across 15 of 20 arrivals — unadjusted for position mix
Size vs. position-typical
-1.9 lbs
#243 of 255 · less than most
Avg. class year
Sr
#41 of 255 · more than most
Top states: OK (6), TX (5), WA (1), CA (1), UT (1)
Who won the portal our read
Talent added
47.9
position-weighted
Talent lost
53.2
position-weighted
Net
-5.3
arrivals minus departures
Best addition: Cooper Legas (QB) from Utah State
Biggest loss: Braylon Braxton (QB) to Marshall
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.
Roster size, by position
Skill positions · usage-weighted (real participation)
Quarterback
204 lbs
6′1″ avg · #607 of 767 · less than most
Running back
197 lbs
5′10″ avg · #696 of 791 · less than most
Wide receiver
187 lbs
5′11″ avg · #635 of 791 · less than most
Tight end
243 lbs
6′3″ avg · #444 of 731 · a typical amount
Trench & secondary · recruited roster, not confirmed starters
Interior line
295 lbs
6′4″ avg · #751 of 779 · less than most
D-line
279 lbs
6′3″ avg · #481 of 753 · a typical amount
Linebacker
221 lbs
6′1″ avg · #672 of 772 · less than most
Cornerback
186 lbs
6′0″ avg · #598 of 771 · less than most
Safety
202 lbs
6′1″ avg · #52 of 346 · more than most
Offensive-line size is one undifferentiated bucket — the source data almost never distinguishes tackle from guard from center, so we can't split them out.
Where the roster comes from, by position
Buys ATH via the portal
33%
#8 of 146 stints
Buys Cornerback via the portal
71%
#35 of 236 stints
Grows Quarterback from high school
75%
#164 of 206 stints
Grows Tight end from high school
100%
#164 of 188 stints
7–16
2011–2016
Indianacaretaker
Regional Program III → Regional Program II
Kevin Wilson moved Indiana from Regional Program III to Regional Program II in 6 seasons.

11th-best Indiana tenure of 16 by the numbers.

Recruiter or developer?

Performs about as expected for his recruiting talent, on both sides of the ball.

Offense vs. talent
-2.3 pts
#122 of 208 · a typical amount
Defense vs. talent
-7.7 pts
#137 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 Bill Lynch (2007–2010).

Season201120122013201420152016Trend
Record & result
Record1–114–85–74–86–76–6
PostseasonL bowlL bowl
Recruiting rank#48#53#53
Style — pass rate
Pass rate36.743.846.1
Coordinators
OCKevin JohnsKevin JohnsKevin Johns
DCBrian KnorrBrian KnorrTom Allen
Outcome — opponent-adjusted efficiency percentile
Offense457723
Defense541871
Tendencies — play-by-play, neutral script (2021+ only)
1st-down pass%32.536.238.3
Red-zone pass%22.735.130.7
4th-down go%opp. territory30.036.740.0
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 detail2015: Lost to Duke 41–44 New Era Pinstripe Bowl2016: Lost to Utah 24–26 Foster Farms Bowl

9 NFL Draft picks: James Brewer (2011), Tandon Doss (2011), Cody Latimer (2014), Ted Bolser (2014), Tevin Coleman (2015), Jason Spriggs (2016), Jordan Howard (2016), Nate Sudfeld (2016) + 1 more

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