Ken Wilson
Ken Wilson went 4–20 as a head coach, 2022–2023, at Nevada. Share
- Record
- 4–20 career
- Seasons
- 2
- Schools
- 1
- Final AP top 10
- 0 seasons
- Born
- Feb 17, 1964
- Alma mater
- North Central College
- Best season
- 2022 2–10
Season by season
| Season | School | Record | Conference finish | Bowl | AP final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Nevada | 2–10 | 6th | |||
| 2023 | Nevada | 2–10 | T–10th |
Each season links to the team’s season page; bowls and playoff games link to the game. Conference finishes from the Wikipedia article’s record table.
How his teams did
| Kind of game | Games | Record | Won |
|---|---|---|---|
| Against ranked teams | 2 | 0–2 | 0% |
| Against top-10 teams | 1 | 0–1 | 0% |
| Against rivals | 6 | 0–6 | 0% |
| Conference games | 16 | 2–14 | 13% |
| Decided by 8 points or fewer | 5 | 1–4 | 20% |
| At home | 12 | 2–10 | 17% |
| On the road | 12 | 2–10 | 17% |
| As our Elo’s favorite | 8 | 3–5 | 38% |
| As our Elo’s underdog | 16 | 1–15 | 6% |
His own 24 games on file, 2022–2023, as played (vacated wins counted, ties as half a win). Ranks are the AP poll going into the game; rivals are the ones either program’s Wikipedia article names; favorite and underdog by our own Elo rating, which reads only scores.
Most-faced opponents
| Opponent | Games | Record |
|---|---|---|
| San Diego Stateseries | 2 | 1–1 |
| Texas Stateseries | 2 | 1–1 |
| Colorado Stateseries | 2 | 0–2 |
| Hawai’iseries | 2 | 0–2 |
| Fresno Stateseries | 2 | 0–2 |
| UNLVseries | 2 | 0–2 |
| New Mexico Stateseries | 1 | 1–0 |
| New Mexicoseries | 1 | 1–0 |
Career
| Years | Team | Job | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | North Central | Graduate assistant | |
| 1987–88 | New Mexico | Graduate assistant | |
| 1989–90 | Nevada | Outside linebackers and defensive ends coach | |
| 1991–95 | Nevada | Inside linebackers coach | |
| 1996–98 | Nevada | Defensive coordinator and inside linebackers coach | |
| 2004–06 | Nevada | Assistant head coach and linebackers coach | |
| 2007 | Nevada | Defensive coordinator and safeties coach | |
| 2008–09 | Nevada | Assistant head coach and linebackers coach | |
| 2010–11 | Nevada | Assistant head coach and defensive ends coach | |
| 2012 | Nevada | Assistant head coach and linebackers coach | |
| 2013–19 | Washington State | Linebackers coach | |
| 2020 | Oregon | Linebackers coach | |
| 2021 | Oregon | Co-defensive coordinator and inside linebackers coach | |
| 2022–23 | Nevada | Head coach | |
| 2024–present | TCU | Linebackers coach |
Every job as the infobox of his Wikipedia article lists it (CC BY-SA), assistant jobs included.
Coaching tree
Worked under
- Mike SheppardNew Mexico
- Chris AultNevada
- Jeff HortonNevada
- Jeff TisdelNevada
- Mike LeachWashington State
- Mario CristobalOregon
- Bryan McClendonOregon
- Sonny DykesTCU
Assistants who became head coaches
- Vai TauaNevada
Worked under (8)
| Head coach | Team | Years | His job | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mike Sheppard | New Mexico | 1987–88 | Graduate assistant | |
| Chris Ault | Nevada | 1989–2012 | 1989–90: outside linebackers and defensive ends coach; 1991–95: inside linebackers coach; 2004–12: assistant head coach and linebackers coach; 2007: defensive coordinator and safeties coach; 2010–11: assistant head coach and defensive ends coach | |
| Jeff Horton | Nevada | 1993 | Inside linebackers coach | |
| Jeff Tisdel | Nevada | 1996–98 | Defensive coordinator and inside linebackers coach | |
| Mike Leach | Washington State | 2013–19 | Linebackers coach | |
| Mario Cristobal | Oregon | 2020–21 | 2020: linebackers coach; 2021: co-defensive coordinator and inside linebackers coach | |
| Bryan McClendon | Oregon | 2021 | Co-defensive coordinator and inside linebackers coach | |
| Sonny Dykes | TCU | 2024–26 | Linebackers coach |
Coached under him, later head coaches (1)
| Coach | With him | Head coach at | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vai Taua | Nevada, 2022–23: assistant head coach and running backs coach | Nevada |
Other assistants under him (4)
| Coach | With him | |
|---|---|---|
| Derek Sage | Nevada, 2022–23: offensive coordinator and tight ends coach | |
| Joe Bolden | Nevada, 2022: special teams and outside linebackers coach | |
| Kwame Agyeman | Nevada, 2022–23: co-defensive coordinator | |
| Mike Bethea | Nevada, 2022–23: co-defensive coordinator |
From coaches’ Wikipedia infoboxes (CC BY-SA) and each season’s article for its coordinators: an assistant’s seasons at a school count under its head coach in our records; jobs in the NFL and elsewhere, under the head coach whose own article lists the job that year. Names without a page here link to their Wikipedia articles.
How he coached
Wilson’s teams went for it on 22% of fourth downs and on 41% of those where the model said go for it, passed on 51% of plays and took 25.6 seconds a play, 2022–2023.
| Season | Went for it on fourth | When the model said go | Pass rate | Seconds a play | EPA a play | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 11 g | 24 of 104 23% | 40% | 53% | 24.8 | −0.11 | |
| 2023 11 g | 22 of 101 22% | 42% | 49% | 26.5 | −0.09 | |
| All 22 g | 46 of 205 22% | 41% | 51% | 25.6 | −0.10 |
His seasons as a head coach from 2004 on, from ESPN’s play by play: fourth downs where he went for it out of every fourth-down decision; how often he went when SportsDataverse’s fourth-down model said going for it was the better call; the share of his offense’s plays that were passes; seconds of game clock per offensive play (lower is faster); and expected points added per offensive play (EPA, a measure of how much each play moved the offense toward points). The season in progress counts its games so far. SportsDataverse’s coach tendencies, from ESPN’s play by play; the EPA and the fourth-down model are SportsDataverse’s.