San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
UTSA: WILSON IS ON THE HOT SEAT AFTER A DIFFICULT SEASON.
UTSA coach Frank Wilson likes to stay insulated from any criticism that might be hurled toward the Roadrunners program. If derogatory comments are floating around on social media, Wilson said his staff nixes them before they reach his ears.
Whether Wilson felt it or not, a sense of unrest began to stir after one of Conference USA’s highest-paid coaches led UTSA to a 3-9 record in 2018. At the Roadrunners’ media day Aug. 10, Wilson was asked if he’d heard any of the angst from a fan base desperate for improvement.
“That’s what they say? We feel the same way,” Wilson said. “We want to have a good year. We need to have a good year. So we echo those sentiments.”
When UTSA opens the 2019 campaign Aug. 31 against Incarnate Word, all eyes will be locked on Wilson, evaluating his ability to deliver on the goal of reaching a bowl game.
That aspiration is one athletics director Lisa Campos highlighted when she penned a letter to Roadrunners fans a few days after the end of the 2018 season. She said the team “did not experience the success we anticipated” and noted that the “expectation is to compete for conference championships and represent UTSA at bowl games.”
Since then, Campos said she’s become more engaged with the team’s daily operations, seeing how Wilson handles recruiting and his relationships with his assistants. She describes Wilson as diligent and organized, remarking on the respect he draws from his players. Assessing a coach is about the student-athlete experience and a bevy of other factors beyond just wins and losses, Campos said, so she isn’t about to set an ultimatum for Wilson in 2019.
“I learned long ago from great athletic directors that you don’t say, ‘This is what has to happen, or else,’ ” Campos said. “You let the season play out, you evaluate throughout the season, and then you do the tough conversations at the end, of what needed to get better. Or, you’re celebrating the successes of how the season went.”
Optimism seemed universal when Wilson joined the progam in 2016, coming to San Antonio with a reputation as an elite recruiter after six years as an assistant at LSU. During his first season at the helm, he posted a 6-7 record and led the Roadrunners to their only bowl game.
His original contract, which ran through the 2020
season at an initial base salary of $650,000, was extended through the 2021 campaign. His base salary jumped about $250,000 annually.
The Roadrunners put a disappointing cap on 2017 by losing three of their final four games to finish 6-5, missing out on bowl selection. In 2018, UTSA sputtered to a 3-9 record behind the FBS’ worst offense. The Roadrunners’ nine defeats
were by an average of 26 points, with only the season finale decided by a singledigit margin.
“No one ever anticipates finishing on that side of a win-loss record,” Wilson said. “Our team is very anxious to be able to get that taste out of their mouth — that disdain out of their mouth. To be a better football team. To walk around proud, chest out and head up high, that we’re a program to be reckoned with. And we are working in that manner.”
Wilson is set to make $1,125,000 this year, combining his $975,000 base salary with $100,000 for television/media compensation and $50,000 in retention compensation. He was the second-highest-paid coach in Conference USA last season, trailing only Seth Littrell at North Texas, per USA Today.
If UTSA were to terminate Wilson’s employment, he would be paid his base salary and supplemental compensation through the term of his contract, which runs through Feb. 28, 2022. Those payments would be reduced by any compensation he receives in a new position.
The NCAA’s most recent revenue and expenses report covers data through fiscal year 2016. Of UTSA’s 11 head coaches who operate a single team, only Wilson will earn base pay in 2019-20 that exceeds the 2016 NCAA median for FBS non-Power Five coaches in that sport.
His guaranteed compensation of $1,125,000 is 141.7 percent of the 2016 median for FBS non-Power Five football coaches. UTSA women’s soccer coach Derek Pittman comes closest to meeting that mark, earning 81 percent of the 2016 FBS non-Power Five median for women’s soccer coaches.
Coaching salary figures have been among the many focuses for Campos since she took the AD position in November 2017 — after Wilson’s most recent contract was negotiated and went into effect.
“We’re always looking at how do we retain the coaches we want to retain, and how do we continue to invest in that?” Campos said. “In terms of football compared to the others, at the end of the day, whether it’s coach salary, whether it’s scholarships, whether it’s all the things you think about with football, that is really our most highly successful revenue generator in terms of donations and in terms of ticket sales. So that’s an area that we really have to invest in and make sure that we continue to put a great product out there.”
Wilson is not immune to pressure, but he said those feelings come from within rather than from UTSA’s fans or administration.
Through the fall, players have shrugged off the idea that the team is under any added burden this season. Many have said that Wilson is no different from last year, bringing the same attitude and energy to each practice.
“I wouldn’t say he’s doing anything different, because his approach last year wasn’t anything wrong,” sophomore running back Brenden Brady said. “Nothing was wrong with the coaching staff last year. We put it all on us as players.”
A common refrain during the preseason has been UTSA becoming more of a “player-led” team, with the Roadrunners taking ownership of last season’s shortcomings and pushing each other to fix them.
Wilson said the team’s culture hasn’t changed. The struggles of 2018 were tied to personnel issues that Wilson said have been addressed through recruiting and development. Many of the players have taken more leadership, while Wilson continues to stay the course.
“Coach Wilson has just been consistent,” senior receiver Blaze Moorhead said. “He knows what it takes to win, and we’re believing in him and buying into that.”