Why Tennessee Tech football future is bright despite FCS playoff loss

COOKEVILLE − Tennessee Tech football made program history this season, becoming the first team to win 11 games. A loss in the FCS national playoffs did not change the new standard for the Golden Eagles.

It's a future that will be much different than the last 76 years in the Big South/Ohio Valley Conference as the Golden Eagles move to the Big South Conference with momentum after earning their second national playoff berth in history.

The 2025 season ended in disappointment with No. 6 Tech (11-2) committing six turnovers in a 31-6 loss to No. 19 North Dakota (8-5) at Tucker Stadium on Nov. 29. But the expectation level going forward remains higher than ever, according to second-year Tech coach Bobby Wilder.

"This is the standard now," said Wilder, the Big South/OVC coach of the year. "The standard is to be a top 10 team in the country. To win conference championships. To get the automatic bid (in the playoffs). To be seeded higher next year now. The goal is to be seeded as high as possible and get the first-round bye. The standard is to compete for the No. 1 ranking in the country."

Wilder did not hold back when he spoke to his returning players in the locker room after the game.

"I told the guys in the locker room coming back, the goal is to compete for national championships," Wilder said. "The goal is to try to be better than the 2025 team that is now, by wins, the best team in 104 years to play here. That work is going to start tomorrow."

The question is whether Tennessee Tech can be as successful in the Southern Conference as it's been in the Big South/OVC over the last two seasons? The Golden Eagles tied for the regular season championship with Southeast Missouri, Tennessee State and UT Martin in 2024 before becoming the first team team in the conference since 2017 to win the league with an undefeated record (8-0) in 2025.

"It remains to be seen," Wilder said when asked about being as successful in the Southern Conference as Tech was in the Big South/OVC. "But we won't change our goals. That's been the goal since we've been here the last two years as a coaching staff."

Former Nolensville standout Tim Coutras, a three-time All-Big South/OVC defensive back, transferred to Tech from Liberty before Wilder's arrival. He won't be around when the program moves to its new conference, but said the seismic change he experienced in his time at Tech leaves him confident it will be a smooth transition.

"It's like night and day what I saw happen here," said Coutras, who had an interception midway through first quarter against North Dakota. "The amount of countability that coach Wilder made you have each and every day. He made you live up to that standard. If you weren't holding up to it, he would be the first one to tell you. Just having coach Wilder and the coaches he brought with him change the whole landscape of what we do made the difference."

Reach Mike Organ at 615-259-8021 or on X @MikeOrganWriter.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Why Tennessee Tech football future is bright despite FCS playoff loss