Bobby Wilder

Last updated
Bobby Wilder
2017-0720-CUSA-BobbyWilder.jpg
Wilder at 2017 C-USA Media Days
Current position
Title Head coach
Team Tennessee Tech
Conference OVC
Record0–0
Biographical details
Born (1964-08-01) August 1, 1964 (age 59)
Playing career
1983–1986 Maine
Position(s) Quarterback
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1988–1989 Boston College (GA)
1990 Maine (RB)
1991Maine (ADL)
1992Maine (DL)
1993Maine (WR/TE)
1994–1999Maine (QB)
2000–2006Maine (AHC/OC/QB)
2009–2019 Old Dominion
2023–present Tennessee Tech
Head coaching record
Overall77–56
Bowls1–0
Tournaments2–2 (NCAA D-I playoffs)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
1 C-USA East Division (2016)
Awards
American Football Monthly Coach of the Year (2012)
Division I Independent Coach of the Year (2013)

Robert S. Wilder (born August 1, 1964) is an American football coach who serves as the head coach for Tennessee Tech University. Before that, served as the head coach of the Old Dominion Monarchs football team. He was only the second coach all-time in the program's history and the first since football's rebirth at the school in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) in 2009.

Contents

Old Dominion played football for eleven seasons when the university was a two-year institution known as the Norfolk Division of the College of William and Mary. Between 1930 and 1940, the team compiled a record of 42-36-4. The program was then discontinued due to a rule banning freshman players and a US$10,000 debt. [1]

Hired in 2007, Wilder spent the first two years recruiting and starting up the program. In 2009, in his first competitive season as head coach, the Monarchs finished 9–2. That was the best winning record ever for a first-year program in college football's modern era. [2] The Monarchs were outscored by a total of only eight points in their two losses.

Wilder's inaugural team finished the year ranked in the top ten in five FCS statistical categories, including second in sacks allowed, third in scoring offense, turnover margin and net punting. The 2009 Monarchs were ninth in rushing offense. [2]

ODU was fifth in FCS attendance in 2009, selling out all of their home games in the 19,782-seat Foreman Field. [3]

In his first three years, Wilder led Old Dominion to a 26–7 record. In 2011, in the Monarchs first season in the Colonial Athletic Association, they earned a berth in the 2011 FCS playoffs, hosting crosstown rival Norfolk State. Also in 2011, after playing 27 games in its "modern era", ODU received its first Top 25 ranking on October 3, coming in at No. 21 in The Sports Network poll. The Monarchs were ranked among the Top Ten after competing in 33 games. [4]

In December 2023 Wilder was announced as the 13th head football coach of Tennessee Tech University. [5]

Biography

Wilder grew up in Madison, Maine and attended Madison Area Memorial High School, where he graduated in 1982. A highly recruited quarterback, Wilder opted to play his college ball close to home. Upon graduation from the University of Maine in 1987 with a degree in physical education, Wilder served as a graduate assistant coach for two seasons under Jack Bicknell at Boston College, where he earned his master's degree in educational administration in 1990. He then returned to Maine, where he was an assistant coach, assistant head coach and finally associate head coach from 1990 to 2006. [2]

He has two sons, Derek and Drew. [2]

Head coaching record

YearTeamOverallConferenceStandingBowl/playoffs TSN#Coaches'°
Old Dominion Monarchs (NCAA Division I FCS independent)(2009–2010)
2009 Old Dominion 9–2
2010 Old Dominion 8–3
Old Dominion Monarchs (Colonial Athletic Association)(2011–2012)
2011 Old Dominion 10–36–2T–2ndL NCAA Division I Second Round 1010
2012 Old Dominion 11–27–11st [n 1] L NCAA Division I Quarterfinal 66
Old Dominion Monarchs (NCAA Division I FCS independent)(2013)
2013 Old Dominion 8–4
Old Dominion Monarchs (Conference USA)(2014–2019)
2014 Old Dominion 6–64–4T–3rd (East)
2015 Old Dominion 5–73–5T–4th (East)
2016 Old Dominion 10–37–1T–1st (East)W Bahamas
2017 Old Dominion 5–73–56th (East)
2018 Old Dominion 4–82–6T–6th (East)
2019 Old Dominion 1–110–87th (East)
Old Dominion:77–5632–32
Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles (Ohio Valley Conference)(2024–present)
2024 Tennessee Tech 0–00–0
Tennessee Tech:
Total:77–56
      National championship        Conference title        Conference division title or championship game berth
  • #Rankings from final TSN Poll.
  • °Rankings from final Coaches' Poll.

Notes

  1. Old Dominion voted ineligible for Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) championship by league due to Old Dominion's decision to leave for Conference USA. Old Dominion finished first in the league and the university recognizes the 2012 team as unofficial champions of the CAA.

Related Research Articles

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The Old Dominion Monarchs are composed of 18 intercollegiate athletic teams representing Old Dominion University, located in Norfolk, Virginia. Men's sports include baseball, basketball, football, golf, sailing, soccer, swimming, and tennis. Women's sports include basketball, field hockey, lacrosse, golf, sailing, soccer, swimming, tennis, rowing, and volleyball. The Monarchs compete in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) and are members of the Sun Belt Conference (SBC); the university joined the conference on July 1, 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Old Dominion Monarchs men's basketball</span> Basketball team in Virginia

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The 2009 Old Dominion Monarchs football team represented Old Dominion University during the 2009 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The team compiled a 9–2 record, in the first season under the guidance of head coach Bobby Wilder. The Monarchs competed as an independent. The team's home games were played at Foreman Field.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Old Dominion Monarchs baseball</span>

The Old Dominion Monarchs baseball team is a varsity intercollegiate athletic team of Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, United States. The team is a member of the Sun Belt Conference, which is part of NCAA Division I. Old Dominion's first baseball team was fielded in 1931 as the William and Mary College – Norfolk Division Braves. ODU joined Division I in 1977. The team plays its home games at Bud Metheny Baseball Complex in Norfolk, Virginia, where it has played since 1982. ODU has won six conference tournament titles and have been to the NCAA tournament nine times. The Monarchs are coached by Chris Finwood, a native of Hampton, Virginia, who is in his eleventh year at the helm. The Monarchs have had eleven players reach the Major Leagues and two, Justin Verlander and Daniel Hudson, have played in the World Series.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Old Dominion Monarchs field hockey</span> American college field hockey team

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">2016–17 Old Dominion Monarchs men's basketball team</span> American college basketball season

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The Old Dominion–William & Mary rivalry refers to the U.S. college rivalry games between the Old Dominion Monarchs of the Sun Belt Conference and the William & Mary Tribe of the Colonial Athletic Association. They are the two largest and most historically tenured NCAA Division I rivals in Hampton Roads, Virginia.

Anthony Guzzo is an American baseball coach. He is an assistant baseball coach Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, a position he has held since 2017. Guzzo served as the head baseball coach at North Carolina Wesleyan University in Rocky Mount, North Carolina from 1979 to 1982, Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) in Richmond, Virginia from 1983 to 1994, and Old Dominion from 1995 to 2004.

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The Royal Rivalry refers to the U.S. college rivalry games between the James Madison Dukes and the Old Dominion Monarchs of the Sun Belt Conference. It is an intra-conference match-up between two Div. I FBS public universities, James Madison University and Old Dominion University, in the state of Virginia.

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References

  1. "Great Moments; ODU Alumni Magazine - Fall 2005". Archived from the original on July 17, 2012. Retrieved October 8, 2010.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Bobby Wilder Profile, odusports.com". Archived from the original on January 4, 2011. Retrieved January 16, 2010.
  3. Radford, Rich; "College Football 2010 | ODU game-by-game preview"; hamptonroads.com
  4. ""Football Monarchs to Host Norfolk State in First Round of FCS Playoffs", odusports.com, November 20, 2011". Archived from the original on June 1, 2012. Retrieved November 24, 2011.
  5. "Let's get Wilder: Bobby Wilder names new Tennessee Tech head football coach". ttusports.com. December 3, 2023. Retrieved December 4, 2023.