The two programs are conference rivals now, and the first meeting already has some heat on it.
Tennessee Tech opened its Southern Conference era with a 24-9 win at Chattanooga on Sept. 5, the Mocs' home opener. Part of the margin came on one call. Bobby Wilder's Golden Eagles opened the second half with an onside kick, recovered it, and turned the surprise into a touchdown.
After the game, Rusty Wright took issue with how Tennessee Tech lined up for the kick, saying the Golden Eagles were schematically wrong on the play. Wilder was having none of it.
"That pissed me off. He said schematically they're wrong," Wilder said at his press conference a few days later, adding that he did not think Wright understood the alignment in the first place and crediting Frank Wilson for being one of the best special teams coordinators in the country.
"We're we're aligned perfectly for what we do. And just look at the two teams. In two years, the last two years, we've been third and fifth in the country on special teams. They're 103 and 42. So, what the hell is Rusty Wright talking about?"
"He's an under-the-bus guy," Wilder said. "He's looking to throw anybody he can under the bus to make himself look better." He pointed to Wright's own special teams to make the point, saying Wright "gives his kicker an incredibly hard kick to make, and when it doesn't work, he throws him under the bus. That's Rusty Wright."
Wilder doubled down when asked about Wright's comments that they didn't know what they're playing with offensively, talking about his own team.
"Yeah, again throwing his kids under the bus. I mean, you're making a statement to the media that you don't know what we're playing with offensively. I thought those kids played their tails off on offense. They were physical. They ran the ball. Schematically in the pass game, I don't know what they were trying to do. They're throwing bubbles and fade routes and it was easy for us to cover. We've got an elite defensive coordinator and Chase Mummau, our defense, shut them down. They threw for 37 yards uh and didn't have scheme that allowed their quarterback to be successful. So again, that's that's what under the bus people do. They throw their players under the bus and then they try to talk about how they're going to out scheme someone."
"He should really focus on himself and his own team."
Wilder knows something about building a program.. He spent 11 seasons (2009-2019) standing up Old Dominion from scratch, went 77-56, and opened with a 9-2 debut in 2009. At Tennessee Tech he has been even hotter, 18-7 since taking the job in December 2023, with back-to-back Ohio Valley Conference titles in 2024 and 2025 and an 11-2 finish last fall before an NCAA tournament loss. He was an Eddie Robinson Award finalist and signed a new five-year contract over the winter.
Wright is in his seventh season at Chattanooga, his alma mater, where he worked as an assistant from 1996 to 2002 before getting the top job in 2019. He is 42-34 overall and went 5-7 (4-4 in the SoCon) in 2025, tying for fifth in the league. His coaching stops before Chattanooga include assistant jobs at Miami (Ohio), Furman, and Georgia State.
Wright has not yet returned comment, and only time will tell if there's a rebuttal, or if he simply turns the page.
The two will meet again next fall, and Wilder has made sure there is a little something riding on it.
Stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.