For the LSU Tigers, the loss to the Cougars capped off a turbulent 2025 campaign. But the man standing on the sideline, interim head coach Frank Wilson, ensured the team didn’t face the end alone after Brian Kelly’s firing. Despite already accepting a job at Ole Miss, Wilson fought tooth and nail to coach this final game. The depth of Wilson’s commitment was revealed in a striking admission he made during the postgame press conference.

“Very proud to get this team to the finish line,” he said. “And when we were in the midst of the transition and asked about coaching in this game, I said to an administrator, I’m going to finish with my boys. I’ll burn this building down if you don’t let me finish. I’m going to finish with my boys because love is unconditional.”

Wilson was adamant with the administration about seeing the season through to its conclusion. He had served as the program’s glue since taking over in late October, following Brian Kelly’s firing. His passionate stance allowed him to lead the Tigers one last time, as the program prepared to hand the keys to incoming head coach Lane Kiffin.​​

Wilson’s departure for Ole Miss might seem like a sudden pivot. But the split with Kiffin appears to be entirely amicable. The two spent time trying to figure out a role for Wilson on Kiffin’s new staff in Baton Rouge. But the pieces just didn’t fit.

“We talked about ways that it could work out. Coach Kiffin was absolutely awesome the entire time, and wanting to try to find a way to work it out,” Wilson explained.

When a resolution couldn’t be reached, Wilson looked elsewhere, finding a soft landing spot that made perfect sense for his career. That “elsewhere” turned out to be Oxford, reuniting Wilson with his former protégé and newly minted Ole Miss head coach, Pete Golding. Years ago, when Wilson was the head coach at UTSA, he was the one who gave Golding a shot as his defensive coordinator.

This move eventually launched Golding onto Nick Saban’s radar at Alabama. “When the opportunity came, (Golding) extended himself to me, and I thought it was a great fit for myself and my family,” Wilson said.

Despite leaving for a rival, Wilson exited with grace, offering a ringing endorsement of the man replacing him. Wilson has worked with Kiffin previously at Tennessee back in 2009. “Coach (Kiffin) was awesome. I had no qualms with Coach Kiff, and he’s going to do an outstanding job,” Wilson assured. “He’ll assemble a great staff. He’ll do fantastic.”

As Wilson heads to Mississippi and Kiffin settles into Baton Rouge, the “burn this building down” comment serves as a testament to a coach who refused to abandon his players when the walls were closing in.​

Athletic director’s final salute

While Frank Wilson was busy preparing his team for one final battle in Houston, LSU Athletic Director Verge Ausberry offered a poignant perspective on the chaotic end to the Tigers’ 2025 season. In a pregame interview with WAFB-TV’s Jacques Doucet, Ausberry addressed Wilson’s imminent departure for Ole Miss.

Despite the awkward reality of Wilson joining an SEC rival, Ausberry’s tone was appreciative rather than bitter. “Frank Wilson is going to do well wherever he is. He’s still part of our family,” Ausberry told Doucet. This is the classy send-off that you expect for a coach who held together a program during its most fragile weeks.

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This administrative support shows why Wilson’s plea was so critical. It was about bridging the time between Brian Kelly’s exit and Kiffin’s arrival. But it was also about taking the players to the very end of what was a tumultuous season. Lane Kiffin was also in the building watching the game, which is ironic. Wilson was coaching his heart out for LSU one last time before swapping colors to join the staff Kiffin had just vacated. It was a fittingly complex end to a complex season.