Everyone at Ohio State is hard at work preparing for the Peach Bowl on Saturday and the challenge that awaits in Georgia, the defending national champions, but one member of the Buckeyes’ coaching staff is having to pull double duty.
Offensive coordinator and tight ends coach Kevin Wilson – who will depart Ohio State following this season, already announced as the next head coach at Tulsa – has been spending his time in between bowl preparation and working to hit the ground running for the Golden Hurricanes.
“(When Ohio State’s coaches were out recruiting), I was dealing with the new opportunity,” Wilson said Tuesday. “When we weren’t recruiting, it was back (at Ohio State) – I’ve been here since last Thursday. So now I’m pushing about 12 days directly with the team all the time.
In preparing to take over at Tulsa, Wilson said he’s spent time trying to recruit his own team to avoid players hitting the portal and attempting to “keep the guys on the board,” though he said he’s still spending around “70 percent” of his time helping prepare Ohio State for the Peach Bowl.
“But I’m very compartmentalized,” he continued. “These guys know this. When I’m in practice, it’s all practice and it’s full throttle. When we’re in meetings, it’s all meetings.”
Wilson said after taking the Tulsa job that he would remain with Ohio State through the College Football Playoff – whether that ends this Saturday or on Jan. 9 in Los Angeles – and wanted to remain dedicated to the Buckeyes after helping the team to this position.
“I said back in preseason, one of our goals was to get in this game and be a part of this,” he said. “And we want to have success in this game. It’s not been hard. It’s been a lot of energy. And the total focus when it’s been time to work would be so these guys have a chance to play well against a tremendous Georgia defense and we’re ready to roll.”
As for that preparation, Wilson said Ohio State is not preparing as though it is just a regular bowl game, but as a playoff game. With just a few days left until the game kicks off, Wilson said the Buckeyes are ahead of schedule preparing for the Bulldogs.
“As the players would tell you with the game plan, what’s going on, playing challenging team with a lot of great athletes and a lot of stress they bring in their structure,” he said. “But we’ve worked really hard to be ahead and give our kids a chance to go out and be aggressive and play well Saturday night.”
