Fox, Wilder set strong goals for program at Business Before Hours
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Community and business leaders from Cookeville and Putnam County converged on the Hooper Eblen Center on Tuesday morning for the Chamber of Commerce’s Business Before Hours event. With new Tech Director of Athletics Casey Fox and head football coach Bobby Wilder at the podium, the message was abundantly clear – great things are happening and are continuing to happen at Tennessee Tech. Fox, who officially began his duties as AD last month, is determined to get the community excited about the University.
By Thomas Corhern, TTU Athletics Media Relations
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Community and business leaders from Cookeville and Putnam County converged on the Hooper Eblen Center on Tuesday morning for the Chamber of Commerce's Business Before Hours event. With new Tech Director of Athletics Casey Fox and head football coach Bobby Wilder at the podium, the message was abundantly clear – great things are happening and are continuing to happen at Tennessee Tech.
Fox, who officially began his duties as AD last month, is determined to get the community excited about the University.
"I'm really excited to be here and see if we can make this this place something that makes everybody proud," Fox said. "Make them proud to be a Tennessee Tech alum, supporter, stakeholder, whatever you want to call it. Make them proud to wear that Purple and Gold into work the next day after a big win, whether it's football, basketball, baseball – whatever you win. We're hoping to have a lot of those wins over the seasons.
My expectations for this program and for me and for everybody working here is to win," Fox said. "Not only on the court, but off the court as well as you continue to win in the classroom, continue to win and connect and be part of this Cookeville community. It's been so welcoming to be here and be a part of that."
Fox comes into a Golden Eagle department that has shown success in the past year with conference championships in football, women's basketball and women's soccer, but that's only scratching the surface. He's excited about what Tennessee Tech has to offer and build from there.
"It's a privilege to be a part of this and be asked to steward this program as we move forward. I want to say this – we've got a great stable of coaches. They have been outstanding, and as I've gotten to know them, it's something to be proud of, to be a part of and get to work with them.
"The staff is committed and wants this place to be successful, and that's half the battle right there. So we're going to do whatever we can to get this place going and winning championships year in and year out. That's our goal."
Fox spoke on the Tucker Stadium project briefly, reiterating that the noon start times this season for home football games are for this season only with a regular game-time structure being in place once lights are once again available in the stadium structure. He also gave an update on the construction effort, stating that the project is still on schedule to be finished before the start of the next season.
"We need to set the standard for what we want to become," Fox said. "That's to be the top of the conference, winning on and off the court, but also our facilities and our fundraising as well."
Wilder talked about how exciting things are at the University.
"Hopefully, everybody witnessed this a couple of weeks ago, we just became ranked the No. 1 public institution in Tennessee," he said, referencing the latest reports from Money.com and SmartAsset, as well as Tech being named among the 2025-26 "Best Colleges in the U.S." list by Colleges of Distinction.
"Athletics are often referred to as the front porch of the mansion," he continued. "Everybody in Cookeville, Putnam County, knows the reputation of Tennessee Tech, but not everybody nationally knows that, and that's what athletics can do. We can get the word out nationally, we can help the president with his vision to grow Tennessee Tech, which grows our community and that's exciting to think about the growth and be a part of it."
He shifted focus toward the upcoming season and his "Aim High" vision remains ever true as Wilder described his aspirations for this year.
"We're coming off our first winning season in 13 years," Wilder said. "Last year, it was our first championship in 13 years. I love history, I love the history of football. Tennessee Tech, in 104 years of football, has only had 17 teams that have won seven games or more. This summer, we honored the 1972 team that won 10 games. That's the most wins in the history of Tennessee Tech football – and all of that is about to change right now.
"The goal this year, we're chasing that 1972 team. Every team moving forward is to chase the greatest teams that have ever played. We've only had two teams win nine games (1952 and 1977), we've only had six teams win eight games, so chasing those teams who have been successful is first and foremost."
Wilder has perfectly good reasons to raise the stakes as people are starting to pay attention to what is going on in Tucker Stadium.
"We signed the No. 3-ranked in America back in April out of 130 FCS teams," Wilder said. "We signed three very good quarterbacks, which is where we had an issue last year. Our starter got hurt and it made it challenging for us. What I've learned as a football coach – whether it's NFL, college, high school or Pop Warner – if you have a good quarterback, you're really smart. If you don't, you're an ex-coach. I feel really good about the quarterback position.
"For the first time in 47 years, we are ranked No. 1 preseason in the Ohio Valley Conference. We're ranked as high as No. 20 nationally. As I shared with our players and staff when we started preseason practice, preseason is for recognition. That's for all the hard work that everybody in this room who's been part of the program has put in over the last 20 months. The postseason is achievement."
He continued, "What we're chasing right now is achievement – win a conference championship, earn the right to compete in 24-team national championship tournament and the ultimate goal is January 5, 2026, to play for a national championship in Nashville at Vanderbilt."
The team continues practice this week with practice sessions Thursday and Friday at 9 AM, while holding their second scrimmage on Saturday at 10 AM.
The Golden Eagles open the season on August 30 against Cumberland for the first of seven home games this season at Tucker Stadium as Tech looks to win the OVC-Big South title outright.
Season tickets for Golden Eagle Football are on sale now – call (931) 372-3940, visit the Hooper Eblen Center ticket office or order online at TTUsports.com.
Photo | Thomas Corhern, TTU Athletics Media Relations
