Kirk Ferentz: Where Does He Rank Among Big Ten Coaches?
By Jeremy Karll
No. 9 – Kevin Wilson, Indiana Hoosiers (23-45)
No, Kevin Wilson hasn’t had instant success at Indiana. The Hoosiers have almost double the amount of losses as wins during his career and are 3-4 in 2016, yet Wilson is still coaching and ranked ninth on this list.
The reason is that Wilson has slowly built up this program since taking over in 2011. In 2015, he took Indiana to their first bowl game since 2007. Plus, if Indiana makes a bowl game this year, it will be the first time since 1990-91 that Indiana made back-to-back bowl games. The Hoosiers have also not been ranked since 1994 and haven’t been ranked in the top-15 since 1988.
Simply put, Indiana doesn’t have any history of success in football, but Wilson is slowly changing that. He went from one win to four wins during his first two seasons. He has managed to keep Indiana around that mark since reaching it, making a bowl game in 2015, and seemingly has the best team of his career in 2016.
A win over Maryland this week would likely mean Indiana will become bowl eligible in 2016, and they might even sneak into one as a five win team, too, if they lose to Maryland. Although, the aurora around Indiana’s program is different this year. They played Ohio State and Nebraska tough and it seems like Kevin Wilson’s team will finally be able to compete next year.
They still don’t have a great recruiting class, but Wilson has found a way to make Indiana relevant in football. Their defense has been a lot better this year and Indiana isn’t a push over in the Big Ten anymore. The Hoosiers won’t compete for a Big Ten title anytime soon, but the Hoosiers have something cooking, and it’s because of Kevin Wilson’s rebuild.