LSU football coach Brian Kelly calls sexual harassment allegations against assistant Frank Wilson 'egregious' and 'unfounded'

BATON ROUGE, La. — LSU football coach Brian Kelly called the sexual harassment allegations made against assistant Frank Wilson and "egregious" and "unfounded" in a news conference Wednesday.

Kelly said a lawsuit has not been filed against Wilson and that his status as an assistant coach on the team has not changed. Wilson is LSU's running backs coach and associate head coach.

"We consider those (allegations) as being egregious and simply allegations that were unfounded," Kelly said. "It does not affect Frank Wilson and the person that we know and we stand behind him firmly as a member of our staff."

Wilson has been accused of exposing himself to former LSU associate athletics director Sharon Lewis in 2013 by Lewis' attorney, Larry English, in a radio interview with WRKF-FM 89.3 last month. Wilson was LSU's running backs coach and recruiting coordinator from 2010-15. He took over at Texas-San Antonio in 2016 and had a stint at McNeese State before returning to LSU earlier this year.

An amended complaint that was obtained by USA TODAY and filed by Lewis earlier this month also claims that Wilson “kissed a female employee without her permission” in 2013 and “sexually harassed” female students and workers from 2012-15.

Earlier this month, an LSU spokesperson told The Advertiser that no member of the Tigers' coaching staff at the time had exposed themselves to Lewis.

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“We are unaware of any prior allegations against Frank Wilson, and there is no evidence that any such allegations were ever reported to LSU officials," LSU said in a statement released before the complaint was amended. "Further, none of these allegations were shared during the highly visible, independent Title IX review that LSU initiated last year.”

Lewis had already filed a $50 million lawsuit against LSU's board of supervisors, athletics committee, university administrators and former LSU coach Les Miles, among others. She has accused them for retaliating against her for reporting Title IX violations and allegations of sexual assault.

The lawsuit filed by Lewis did not originally include the allegations made against Wilson, but a federal judge ruled on Feb. 25 that Lewis could amend the lawsuit to reflect Wilson's alleged actions.

Lewis had her contract terminated with the university in late January. In a statement released at the time, Lewis' attorney's claimed that LSU athletics director Scott Woodward had fired her without cause. Woodward is named as a defendant in the lawsuit.

Also in January, Lewis and 13 others, including former LSU coach Ed Orgeron, were dropped as defendants in a separate sexual discrimination lawsuit involving LSU.

The suit accuses LSU of ignoring sexual assault complaints and violating Title IX policies. Ten former and current students are plaintiffs in the lawsuit.

The allegations made by the students prompted an independent investigation from the law firm Husch Blackwell, which resulted in 30-day and 21-day suspensions for executive deputy AD Verge Ausberry and senior associate AD Miriam Segar, respectively.

Segar and Ausberry are named as defendants in both lawsuits.

Lewis was LSU's associate AD of football recruiting. She was promoted to the position in 2020 and had been in LSU's recruiting department since 2002.

Koki Riley is a recruiting and high school sports reporter for The Daily Advertiser and the USA TODAY Sports South Region. Email him at kriley@theadvertiser.com.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: LSU coach Brian Kelly calls allegations against Frank Wilson unfounded