Frank Wilson, the temporary head coach at LSU, is moving to coach the Ole Miss Rebels. Having finished his time at LSU, he served as the interim head coach after Brian Kelly’s dismissal in October. Following his final game with the Tigers in the Texas Bowl on December 27, he will dedicate himself entirely to Ole Miss. Given his short tenure as associate head coach, many college football enthusiasts have questioned his salary for those two months.

For the months of November and December, he was paid a total of $257,083.33 to lead the team through the end of the season with a 2-2 record. This was a major temporary bump from his regular $1.05 million annual salary as associate head coach.

Breaking it down, Wilson essentially got a “temporary raise” of about $169,583 for each of those two months on top of his usual monthly installments. LSU felt he earned the extra cash for stepping up to steady the ship during a wild season of coaching changes.

The deal also included some pretty sweet performance bonuses. He already locked in an extra $60,000 before the bowl game even started $10,000 for a regular-season win against Arkansas. Plus a $50k just for getting the team into a bowl. He also even has a chance to grab another $100k band if the Tigers could pull off a win in the Texas Bowl against Houston.

While Wilson was finishing things up in Baton Rouge. The arrival of Lane Kiffin left no role for him on the new coaching staff. Instead of sticking around for the new era at LSU, Wilson decided to take his talents back to Oxford as a running backs coach on Golding’s new staff.

By the time he officially joins Ole Miss, Wilson will have walked away from LSU with a hefty two-month payday. There are no buyout penalties to worry about. It was a solid “bridge” contract. It allowed him to lead his home-state program one last time before moving on to the next chapter of his SEC career. This also isn’t his first stint at Ole Miss. This isn’t his first time at Ole Miss for Franklin.

Frank Wilson’s ties to Pete Golding and his coaching history

Wilson’s coaching career is all about SEC and Louisiana football. He began at his alma mater, Nicholls State, in 1996. He then worked his way through the high school ranks. That path eventually led him to his first major college job at Ole Miss from 2005 to 2007.

This move is a bit of a reunion for Wilson. He and Pete Golding worked together years ago at UTSA. Wilson was the head coach. Golding served as his defensive coordinator. Wilson is also a certified recruiter. Especially in the New Orleans area.

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He later spent time at Southern Miss and Tennessee. That set the stage for his first major stint at LSU from 2010 to 2015. During that run, he earned a reputation as one of the best recruiters in the country.

Before returning to LSU in 2022, Wilson gained valuable head coaching experience. He spent four seasons leading UTSA from 2016 to 2019. He also coached at McNeese State from 2020 to 2021. Throughout his career, he has developed multiple NFL stars. He engineered ballers like Leonard Fournette, Odell Beckham Jr., and Tyrann Mathieu.

In fact, this whole situation adds extra fuel to the rivalry between Ole Miss and LSU. With the Rebels set to face the Tigers next season in either Week 3 or Week 4, it gives Wilson a prime opportunity to square off against his former program.