Ken Wilson (born February 17, 1964) is an American football coach. He is the head football coach at the University of Nevada. Before becoming the head coach, he had previously coached as an assistant at Nevada for 19 seasons, from 1989 to 1998 and 2004 to 2012.
| Current position | |
|---|---|
| Title | Head coach |
| Team | Nevada |
| Conference | Mountain West |
| Record | 2–8 |
| Biographical details | |
| Born | (1964-02-17) February 17, 1964 (age 58) Virginia, Illinois |
| Playing career | |
| Football | |
| 1982–1985 | North Central |
| Baseball | |
| 1983–1986 | North Central |
| Position(s) | Tight end, linebacker (football) First baseman (baseball) |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| Football | |
| 1986 | North Central (GA) |
| 1987–1988 | New Mexico (GA) |
| 1989–1990 | Nevada (OLB/DE) |
| 1991–1995 | Nevada (ILB) |
| 1996–1998 | Nevada (DC/ILB) |
| 2004–2006 | Nevada (AHC/LB) |
| 2007 | Nevada (DC/S) |
| 2008–2009 | Nevada (AHC/LB) |
| 2010–2011 | Nevada (AHC/DE) |
| 2012 | Nevada (AHC/LB) |
| 2013–2019 | Washington State (LB) |
| 2020 | Oregon (LB) |
| 2021 | Oregon (co-DC/ILB) |
| 2022–present | Nevada |
| Administrative career (AD unless noted) | |
| 1999–2003 | Nevada (associate AD) |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 2–8 |
Wilson began coaching at Nevada in 1989. He spent a total of 19 seasons as an assistant coach there in two stints, from 1989 to 1998 and 2004 to 2012. In between he worked as an associate athletic director for Nevada. Over his with Nevada coaching all along the defensive, while serving as defensive coordinator for four seasons. From 1996 to 1998 Wilson was the youngest NCAA Division I defensive coordinator.
From 2013 to 2019, Wilson worked as the linebackers coach under Mike Leach at Washington State University.[1][2]
In 2020, Wilson joined the staff at the University of Oregon as linebackers coach. In 2021, he signed a new contract and was given the title of co-defensive coordinator while coaching the inside linebackers.[3][4]
After spending nine seasons away from Nevada, Wilson was confirmed to be returning to the university on December 10, 2021, as head coach.[5][6]
Wilson and his wife, Heather, have a son, Tyler, who played football at Nevada, and a daughter, Baylie.[7]
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nevada Wolf Pack (Mountain West Conference) (2022–present) | |||||||||
| 2022 | Nevada | 2–8 | 0–6 | (West) | |||||
| Nevada: | 2–8 | 0–6 | |||||||
| Total: | 2–8 | ||||||||
Nevada Wolf Pack head football coaches | |
|---|---|
# denotes interim head coach |
Head football coaches of the Mountain West Conference | |
|---|---|
| Mountain Division |
|
| West Division |
|
# denotes interim head coach | |