Wilder shares vision of 'bigger, better' Tennessee Tech at Business Before Hours
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – With business leaders from all around Cookeville and Putnam County converging on Tucker Stadium for the monthly Business Before Hours, it gave Tennessee Tech head football coach Bobby Wilder a chance to connect with those leaders and get them excited about the Golden Eagles’ upcoming season. While Tennessee Tech leads the current Big South-Ohio Valley Conference configuration in conference championships with 10, the Golden Eagles have won just one since the calendar shifted into the 2000s – and even before the win in 2011, the last league title before that came in 1975.
By Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – With business leaders from all around Cookeville and Putnam County converging on Tucker Stadium for the monthly Business Before Hours, it gave Tennessee Tech head football coach Bobby Wilder a chance to connect with those leaders and get them excited about the Golden Eagles' upcoming season.
While Tennessee Tech leads the current Big South-Ohio Valley Conference configuration in conference championships with 10, the Golden Eagles have won just one since the calendar shifted into the 2000s – and even before the win in 2011, the last league title before that came in 1975.
Wilder, in full transparency, was honest: "Tennessee Tech has not been good in football for a very long time. How do you change that? Well, there's a process to it. You can't just talk about it, you can't just say what you're going to do. Everybody has to be involved in the process and that's what we as coaches, players and administration are working on.
"The process to winning is this – every day from the moment our feet hit the floor in the morning til our heads hit the pillow at night, it's all about planning, preparation and execution. Too many times in life, people make predictions that they can't back up, so every single day, our focus is that. Our players were up at 5:30 this morning, they were in the training room, they had breakfast, they were in a team meeting, they'll be out here at 8:30 and practice for about two and a half hours. The rest of the day is individual player development, lunch, meetings, treatment, working out. Their day will be done about 8 o'clock tonight. There's a plan for what we're doing. We plan it, we prepare it and we execute it."
College football makes an impact on a community and goes a long way into sparking growth. In conversations between University President Dr. Phil Oldham, Director of Athletics Mark Wilson and Coach Wilder, the importance in building a winning football program is paramount.
"The vision here at Tennessee Tech is to continue to get bigger and better," Wilder said. "Well, how does it affect you? How does it affect Putnam County? How does it affect Cookeville? Well, if we're bigger and better, you're bigger and better. We all get better together.
"What he said to me was for every one football player at Tennessee Tech, that adds seven students. Studies have shown this and they get involved – whether it's the band, the cheerleaders, support staff, students. All of our games are on ESPN+. A potential student sees that, whether they're in this state or somewhere else, sees us play and thinks, 'Wow, that looks fun. Let me look up Tennessee Tech and look at this school. Frank Tittle and his staff in Admissions gets the information out. That's the goal – to continue to grow this campus. A good football program is going to continue to help that, so that's what we're going to do."
As soon as the calendar page moved into August, the work intensified as the Golden Eagles prepare for their season opener at Middle Tennessee on the 31st. Wilder is impressed with the effort the team has shown so far and how they are adapting to the new normal of the college football landscape.
"We're in preseason camp and this is practice number seven, so we have 24 days before the season opener," Wilder said. "As a Division I college football coach, it's 'hurry up and wait' time. Our roster right now – I am the proud father of 111 sons. We have 56 that return from last year's team. They have a really good attitude because they're tired of losing. They have a bad attitude because they've lost so much. Now, you can do a lot with that as a coach. They are very motivated to do something that hasn't been done since they've been here. All they know is losing.
"We have 55 guys that are brand new. You may have heard of this thing called the transfer portal. It's the ability for a student-athlete to leave and go somewhere else like a normal student if they want to. You don't like where you're at or want to change the situation? You can go somewhere else. We signed 32 players from the portal. I think the portal is really good for Tennessee Tech. In Tennessee, you have schools like the University of Tennessee and they can get whoever they want in any sport and pay them what they need to. Then there are schools like our first opponent – Middle Tennessee – and it's a little bit harder for them. They don't have the same resources and a few of their players jumped up. Then there's little 'ol Tennessee Tech."
Wilder continued: "We were able to keep some really good players here. Those players you met this morning? Four of those were all-conference players. Good students, really good people. We were able to bring value to the roster and really help those young men. These newcomers fit really specific needs for this program. Have any of you seen the movie 'Moneyball'? Think about that – that's what it was.
"We also brought in 25 high school players, most of them from Tennessee. They are really good high school players. Forty percent of the roster are Tennessee players. I like to be there and maybe a little more if we can. The bottom line is we have to add value to the roster to win football games. We're really focused on winning football games and having success. We are very capable of doing that here."
Before Wilder's keynote, Wilson updated the attendees on the status of the Tucker Stadium construction project.
"Foster Hall, if you haven't driven past there, is on the ground," Wilson said. "They're finishing the process of putting it in dump trucks and hauling it away. After that, all that equipment moves over here to Tucker Stadium. We are ready to go. We are on track to have the stadium project completed in 2026. Right now, the schedule is to have the construction finished in June 2026 to give us July and August to get everything moved and operational."
Season tickets for Tennessee Tech Football are on sale now – call (931) 372-3940, visit the Hooper Eblen Center ticket office or order online at TTUsports.com.
Fans can follow the Golden Eagle football team on X (formerly Twitter) -- @TNTechFootball – on Instagram – tntech_football – and on Facebook at Tennessee Tech Football.
Photo | Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
