Wilder Finishes Third in Eddie Robinson Award Balloting
In results of voting for the 2025 Eddie Robinson Award, given to the FCS National Coach of the Year and presented for the 39th time this year, Tennessee Tech's Bobby Wilder finished third.
OVC-Big South Communications
In results of voting for the 2025 Eddie Robinson Award, given to the FCS National Coach of the Year and presented for the 39th time this year, Tennessee Tech's Bobby Wilder finished third.
Wilder tallied 122 points, receiving four first-place, 15 second-place, nine third-place, five fourth-place and five fifth-place votes. He finished 14 points behind the winner, Leigh's Kevin Cahill.
In his second season at Tennessee Tech, Wilder guided the Golden Eagles to its first-ever 11-win season, its second-straight OVC-Big South Football Association Championship (with a perfect 8-0 league mark) and its first outright Conference Title in 50 years. TTU started the season 10-0 for the first time in program history and suffered only one loss, at FBS foe Kentucky. The Golden Eagles have won 15-straight games against FCS competition dating back to last season and earned the No. 13 seed for the 2025 FCS Playoffs, only the second FCS playoff berth in program history. The team also earned its highest Top 25 ranking in school history (No. 5).
During the regular season Tennessee Tech ranked first nationally in defensive touchdowns (5), second in rushing defense (76.1 yards/game), team sacks (3.75/game) and team tackles for loss (8.6/game), fifth in scoring offense (40.2 points/game), seventh in total defense (292.6 yards/game) and 11th in scoring defense (17.7 points/game).
The award, encompassing all 13 FCS football conferences and selected by a national voting panel, is named for legendary Grambling State coach Eddie Robinson. It will be presented on January 3 at the Stats Perform FCS Awards Show in Nashville, Tennessee.
In addition to the Eddie Robinson Award, the Walter Payton Award (FCS Offensive Player of the Year), Buck Buchanan Award (FCS Defensive Player of the Year), Jerry Rice Award (FCS Freshman Player of the Year), HBCU National Player of the Year and Doris Robinson Scholar-Athlete of the Year will be presented at the Stats Perform FCS National Awards Show.
2025 Eddie Robinson Award Voting
Following is a breakdown of the voting results. A first-place vote was worth five points, a second-place vote four points, a third-place vote three points, a fourth-place vote two points and a fifth-place vote one point. The final number is the combined point total.
1. Kevin Cahill, Lehigh: 12-8-9-7-3-136
2. Tim Polasek, North Dakota State: 13-10-4-3-6-129
3. Bobby Wilder, Tennessee Tech: 4-15-9-5-5-122
4. DeSean Jackson, Delaware State: 11-3-7-1-5-95
5. Todd Whitten, Tarleton State: 2-6-5-6-8-69
6. Travis Bush, UT Rio Grande Valley: 1-2-5-8-3-47
T7. Jim Fleming, Rhode Island: 3-2-3-4-6-46
T7. Mike Jacobs, Mercer: 2-3-4-4-4-46
9. Steve Englehart, Presbyterian: 4-2-1-4-1-40
10. Colby Carthal, Stephen F. Austin: 1-3-1-3-3-29
11. Joel Taylor, West Georgia: 2-0-2-3-5-27
12. Bobby Hauck, Montana: 0-1-3-3-1-20
13. Tremaine Jackson, Prairie View A&M: 0-1-3-1-3-18
14. Andrew Aurich, Harvard: 1-0-0-4-3-16
15. Adam Lechtenberg, Central Connecticut State: 0-0-0-0-0-0
