News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Tech football team returns to campus Tuesday as Bobby Wilder enters his first year as Tech’s head football coach.
The former Old Dominion head coach comes to Cookeville with a brand new staff, new recruits and transfers, and a new coaching philosophy. Waiting for him is the best defense in the OVC last season, a unit with four returning all-conference players.
“Keeping that same system that coach Alexander and the staff had here last year was very important to me when I got hired, because of how good they were on defense,” Wilder said.
On the offensive side of the ball, Wilder has entrusted longtime assistant Brian Scott as offensive coordinator to turn around an offense that got shut out three times and averaged 8.9 points per game last season. Both former collegiate quarterbacks, Wilder and Scott understand the importance of finding the right playbook and schemes to elevate their quarterback.
“We build the system around the quarterback we have,” Wilder said. “The philosophy is to get the best 11 on the field, and do what they do best.”
While Wilder and Scott like to stretch the field and make defenses defend against the pass, Wilder said they plan on having a mixed attack through the air and on the ground.
“So we’ll be a pro style offense,” Wilder said. “And then what we’ll do week to week will be, number one : what do our players do best and two : how can we attack our opponents weaknesses. So, we’ll try and be balanced. The goal will be to run it as much as we throw the ball.”
With the coaching change and the presence of the transfer portal, Wilder said a large portion of Tech’s existing roster stayed.
“There’s some good football players returned, some good players we added. That gives me a lot of confidence for what we can do if we work at it every day. If we keep stacking good days like we are currently,” Wilder said.
