Ohio State football: Offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson happy in Columbus

This week Kevin Wilson, who joined the Ohio State staff in 2017, sounded like someone who could be in Columbus for a while, too.

“I’m getting old enough that maybe not,” the 60-year-old said when asked about the potential of him becoming a head coach again. “I’d love to have that opportunity, but I do love every day working with Ryan at Ohio State, what we do and the opportunities here. By no means am I at a point where I’m just dying to do something. I think if it’s meant to be, it’s meant to be.”

Wilson was head coach at Indiana from 2011-16 and went 26-47.

The Hoosiers, who were among the worst teams in the country when he arrived in Bloomington, qualified for bowls in each of his last two seasons, but he left Bloomington in December 2016 in what the school officially termed a resignation brought on by philosophical differences.

That was accompanied by reports of issues with how Wilson handled injuries and the training staff, but Ohio State officials vetted Wilson at the time he was hired and said they came away satisfied with what they learned.

He has been mentioned as a candidate for some head coach vacancies since then, but nothing has come together.

The most recent reports involved Akron, but Wilson said he never had a conversation with the Zips, who eventually hired Oregon offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead.

“I appreciate whoever threw that out there,” Wilson said with a grin. “At least I had a bunch of former players and colleagues hit me up. One of you guys (reporters) hit me that day about good luck on Akron. Thirty minutes later one of my old coaches hit me up. I was like, ‘What’s up with Akron?’”

Day has gotten a lot of the headlines for updating the Ohio State passing game since he arrived as an assistant to Urban Meyer the same year Wilson was hired, but Wilson is a long-time offensive guru whose stops included Miami University, Northwestern and Oklahoma before he went to Indiana.

The North Carolina native coaches tight ends while helping with the offensive line and revamping a running game that got stale in the latter years of Meyer’s tenure.

“I’m at one of the best places, one of the best jobs, (and I’m) having as much fun as I’ve ever had,” said Wilson, whose son, Toby, is a walk-on offensive lineman for the Buckeyes. “I love coaching the kids we work with. My family loves it here. It’s kind of neat my son’s here. I never thought that when he showed up. It’s kind of neat he’s here.

“By no means am I content because we need to play a hell of a lot better than just we just played. There is a lot of things we need to do. I thoroughly, thoroughly love where we are at and what we do and dealing with you guys is pretty good. I appreciate it.”