LSU coach Brian Kelly: "We stand behind Frank Wilson"
As LSU entered into its first-ever spring football camp under Brian Kelly, with practice scheduled to open Thursday in Baton Rouge and Kelly meeting media Wednesday afternoon, the Tigers’ first-year coach was left to answer questions about assistant coach Frank Wilson.
A former head coach at both UTSA and McNeese State, who previously coached at LSU and the University of Tennessee, among other stops, Wilson also had been among Kelly’s first hires to his Tigers’ staff as Kelly’s associate head coach and running backs coach.
Per court documents widely reported by numerous media outlets earlier this month, Wilson was alleged by former LSU associate athletics director Sharon Lewis to have “sexually harassed (Lewis) and another woman.”
Near the conclusion of his 35-minute pre-spring press conference, Kelly was asked about Wilson’s status. But Kelly casted a vastly different viewpoint on the presence of a lawsuit.
“So, we know of no lawsuit that has been filed regarding those allegations that were made,” Kelly said. “So his status here was unchanged. We consider those as being … egregious, and simply allegations that were unfounded.
“It does not affect Frank Wilson, and the person that we know and we stand behind him, firmly, as a member of our staff.”
Kelly also was asked about allegations of Wilson’s previous NCAA recruiting violations during his earlier stint in the Tigers’ program, though Kelly skirted the question when he referenced the Tigers’ current investigation from the NCAA due to potential rules violations in both football and men’s basketball, among other elements of the probe.
“Regarding the recruiting violations,” said Kelly, who stunned college football after the 2021 regular season when he bolted Notre Dame to take over LSU after it fired Ed Orgeron. “Those (allegations), I can’t comment on as you know, because we are still currently going through that process with the investigation.”
