Frank Wilson III met with the media Tuesday evening for his first time as LSU’s interim coach amid the program’s ongoing staff shakeup.
The university announced late Sunday that Brian Kelly had been relieved of his duties eight games into the fourth season of a 10-year contract signed after the 2021 season. Specific details of the separation agreement are still being determined.
Offensive coordinator Joe Sloan was then officially let go Monday morning.
But Wilson’s first opportunity to speak on his new role appeared to bring some much needed encouraging signs and enthusiasm to the floor for a team that has quickly fallen from College Football Playoff-hopeful to out of the top 25 of both major polls following its third loss in four games.
The New Orleans native and former St. Augustine and Nicholls State running back, who possesses previous head-coaching experience at UTSA and McNeese State, explained his passion for the program and his perspective on what makes LSU carry such a special significance.
“I was a head coach at another university in this state,” he said. “I left that university as the head coach to come back here, right? And I chose to, I chose to come back here because it’s a very, very unique place that there’s no place like LSU. I’ve worked at universities in this conference around this country, and there’s something about the people here.
“And so when you speak of LSU, you can talk about the beautiful stadium — the pantheon, the concrete. This beautiful facility that we’re in. “But LSU’s not bricks and mortar. It’s the people. It’s the people that make LSU what it is. And we live and we thrive in a people society that as we evoke into relationships, it cuts deep.
“And so it’s totally different than another school where you just go to work. You become a part of it. It becomes a part of you. And it’s the people in this building, it’s the people in this community, it’s the people in this state that gravitates, that pulls you in. And it’s why we say, ‘Forever LSU,’ because it’s not just a job — for me, for many.”