When news of the Kevin Wilson hire leaked, I was approached by jtesooner, one of the proprietor's of SB Nation's Oklahoma site, to see if I would be interested in exchanging questions and answers about Wilson. I thought that was a great idea. You can find my answers to his questions here, and his answers to my questions below the fold:
I'm probably the wrong guy to ask this question because I've been one of Wilson's biggest critics, but I think the easy answer is it's the nature of the beast with a program like OU. If I'm completely honest, Wilson has done an outstanding job as offensive coordinator in his tenure. In my opinion, he's done the best job of anyone that's had the position under Bob Stoops. The fans seem to love Mike Leach and some even are now calling for Mark Mangino to return, but I think out of everyone Wilson has done the best job. I think it's basically impossible to satisfy Sooner Nation and Wilson occupied probably the most criticized position in all of OU football. A majority of the frustration came in specific instances and was really more an "impossible to please" type situation.
2. Clearly, Wilson has a good reputation as a teacher, and strategist. What are your thoughts on him as a recruiter and as the public face of a football program?
I think it's more than fair to say that Kevin Wilson is an above average recruiter and has a personality that can impress potential recruits and their parents. He comes across as a direct, no-nonsense type guy but not in an off-putting way. More like a guy who knows what he wants to get done and how he's going to make it happen. In my opinion, based on interviews you hear he's a dry wit kind of guy. He'll makes some comments, like I believe he did in his introductory presser today, that might sneak by you if you're not paying attention. He's really good with the media and one of the things I appreciated the most was he's not just going to give you the typical "coach speak." That may change now that he's the head man, but I'd be surprised if it changed all that much.
When Chuck Long was at OU, he was in charge of the play calling and OU fans could not wait to get rid of him. So I would definitely have considered Chuck Long to be "the" offensive coordinator. At that time, Wilson was in charge of coordinating the passing game as well as coaching the offensive line and tight ends. After taking over as the primary offensive coordinator, he maintained his responsibility of coaching the TEs and played a huge role in developing one of the all-time TEs in OU history, Jermaine Gresham.
Well, as John can attest this little reference went right over my head. And it's a shame (on my part) too because it was a quality one. So you will all be very happy to know that Kevin Wilson is not on a shared minutes cell phone plan and is way too stingy to pay those astronomical rates they charge you for going over your minutes. So you can all breath a collective sigh of relief! Oh, and to my knowledge he also doesn't have a closet entirely full of denim shirts so bonus!
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Thanks, guys, and good luck in your search for a new offensive coordinator.