Nevada Fires Head Coach Ken Wilson

Nevada Fires Head Coach Ken Wilson

Nevada has fired head coach Ken Wilson after just two seasons, the program announced Friday. During his short tenure, Wilson’s record was an abysmal 4-20.

Wilson has a long history with the Nevada football program. He had two stints as an assistant from 1989 to 1998 and again from 2004 to 2012 under multiple head coaches, most notably Chris Ault. In 2022, he replaced Jay Norvell as the head coach and had some big shoes to fill.

Wilson was signed through 2026, and his buyout was reduced from $1.5 million to $1 million Friday. Nevada will have to look for a new coach during some of the toughest times in program history.

“After an extensive review of the Nevada football program, I have decided to make a leadership change,” Nevada athletic director Stephanie Rempe said via statement. “I would like to thank Ken for his dedication and service to Nevada athletics and to our student athletes. This is not a decision I take lightly, as I know the ripple effect on so many people with a decision like this.“

Although these past two years aren’t fully Ken Wilson’s fault, this firing needed to happen. Even though he only coached 24 games, this was long overdue. Week after week the program struggled and was blown out by teams who were nothing special. At one point during the season, Nevada was considered to be the worst Division I team at the FBS level in the entire country. Watching just a few of these games made it painfully obvious that a coaching change was a top priority.

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Nevada allowed 33.4 points per game while only scoring 17.3 points per game in 2023. Quite frankly, there are many issues with the program at the moment and it will take so much more than a new coach to solve them. Nevada has a decent history, and this poor performance won’t last forever.

As for Wilson, it is unclear where his next destination will be. He likely won’t land another head coaching job, but he has a long resume and could find himself as an assistant again at another mid-major.

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