Report: Tulsa expected to fire head coach Kevin Wilson

Tulsa is expected to fire head coach Kevin Wilson, per ESPN’s Pete Thamel. Following its 63-30 loss to South Florida on Saturday, Tulsa is now 3-8 this season and 1-6 in AAC play.

This is Wilson’s second season at the helm of the Golden Hurricane. In his debut campaign at Tulsa, Wilson led the program to a 4-8 record and 2-6 mark in conference play. Now, with no hope of improving upon that record this season, it appears Wilson’s time at Tulsa is coming to an end.

Per Thamel, assistant coach Ryan Switzer has accepted the interim role at Tulsa. For the past two seasons, Switzer has served as the program’s wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator. He played college football at North Carolina and spent four years in the NFL.

Although the specifics haven’t been reported yet, Tulsa will likely be forced to pay some form of buyout for dismissing Wilson early in their initial five-year contract. Of course, Wilson shouldn’t have too much trouble finding work elsewhere. After all, he boasts plenty of experience from before his stint at Tulsa.

Prior to taking over the Golden Hurricane, Wilson was the offensive coordinator and tight ends coach at Ohio State from 2017-22. During that time, Wilson helped boost Ohio State to four Big Ten titles and two appearances in the College Football Playoff.

Wilson’s only other head coaching experience, besides at Tulsa, was at Indiana from 2011-16. When Wilson took over the program, the Hoosiers had finished 10th or 11th in the Big Ten in each of the previous three seasons. Moreover, they hadn’t been to a bowl game since 2011.

While Wilson wasn’t able to immediately turn around Indiana’s troubles, he helped the program make gradual process, eventually reaching back-to-back bowl games in 2015 and 2016.

Nonetheless, after signing a six-year, $15.3 million contract extension following the 2015 campaign, Kevin Wilson resigned from his position on Dec. 1, 2016, when Indiana began to perform internal investigations into the mistreatment of players.

Now, Wilson’s future is once again wide open. Only time will tell where the veteran coach lands next.