Bobby Wilder
Bobby Wilder went 97–63 as a head coach, 2009–2026, at Old Dominion and Tennessee Tech. Share
Eight seasons our game records don’t credit to him come from the coach’s Wikipedia article: 2009–13 at Old Dominion (on file under another coach); 2024–26 at Tennessee Tech. They’re marked in the table.
- Record
- 97–63 career
- Seasons
- 14
- Schools
- 2
- Final AP top 10
- 0 seasons
- Born
- Jul 30, 1964
- Alma mater
- Maine 1987
- Best season
- 2016 10–3
Season by season
| Season | School | Record | Conference finish | Bowl | AP final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Old Dominion * | 9–2 | ||||
| 2010 | Old Dominion * | 8–3 | ||||
| 2011 | Old Dominion * | 10–3 | T–2nd | NCAA Division I Second Round L | 10 | |
| 2012 | Old Dominion * | 11–2 | 1st | NCAA Division I Quarterfinal L | 6 | |
| 2013 | Old Dominion * | 8–4 | ||||
| 2014 | Old Dominion | 6–6 | T–3rd (East) | |||
| 2015 | Old Dominion | 5–7 | T–4th (East) | |||
| 2016 | Old Dominion | 10–3 | T–1st (East) | Bahamas Bowl W | ||
| 2017 | Old Dominion | 5–7 | 6th (East) | |||
| 2018 | Old Dominion | 4–8 | T–6th (East) | |||
| 2019 | Old Dominion | 1–11 | 7th (East) | |||
| 2020–23: not a college head coach | ||||||
| 2024 | Tennessee Tech * | 7–5 | T–1st | |||
| 2025 | Tennessee Tech * | 11–2 | 1st | NCAA Division I First Round L | 16 | |
| 2026 | Tennessee Tech * | 2–0 | ||||
Each season links to the team’s season page; bowls and playoff games link to the game. Conference finishes from the Wikipedia article’s record table. * A season our game records don’t credit to him; its record is the article’s.
How his teams did
| Kind of game | Games | Record | Won |
|---|---|---|---|
| Against ranked teams | 3 | 1–2 | 33% |
| Against rivals | 3 | 2–1 | 67% |
| Conference games | 48 | 19–29 | 40% |
| Bowls and playoffs | 1 | 1–0 | 100% |
| Decided by 8 points or fewer | 24 | 14–10 | 58% |
| At home | 37 | 20–17 | 54% |
| On the road | 35 | 10–25 | 29% |
| At neutral sites | 1 | 1–0 | 100% |
| As our Elo’s favorite | 31 | 23–8 | 74% |
| As our Elo’s underdog | 42 | 8–34 | 19% |
His own 73 games on file, 2014–2019, as played (vacated wins counted, ties as half a win). Ranks are the AP poll going into the game; rivals are the ones either program’s Wikipedia article names; favorite and underdog by our own Elo rating, which reads only scores.
Against other head coaches
| Coach | Record | Their schools | Games | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Doc Holliday 2014–2019 | 1–5 | Marshall | 6 | |
| Brad Lambert 2015–2018 | 3–1 | Charlotte | 4 | |
| Rick Stockstill 2014–2019 | 0–4 | Middle Tennessee | 4 | |
| Chris Creighton 2014–2016 | 3–0 | Eastern Michigan | 3 | |
| Charlie Partridge 2014–2016 | 2–1 | Florida Atlantic | 3 | |
| Sean Kugler 2014–2016 | 2–1 | UTEP | 3 | |
| Butch Davis 2017–2019 | 1–2 | Florida International | 3 | |
| Justin Fuente 2017–2019 | 1–2 | Virginia Tech | 3 | |
| Dave Doeren 2014–2016 | 0–3 | NC State | 3 | |
| Jeff Brohm 2014–2016 | 0–3 | Western Kentucky | 3 |
Bobby Wilder’s record against the head coaches he met three or more times, from the games on file, as played.
Most-faced opponents
| Opponent | Games | Record |
|---|---|---|
| Florida Internationalseries | 6 | 3–3 |
| Florida Atlanticseries | 6 | 2–4 |
| Western Kentuckyseries | 6 | 1–5 |
| Marshallseries | 6 | 1–5 |
| Charlotteseries | 5 | 3–2 |
| Middle Tennesseeseries | 4 | 0–4 |
| Eastern Michiganseries | 3 | 3–0 |
| Riceseries | 3 | 2–1 |
Career
| Years | Team | Job | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1988–89 | Boston College | Graduate assistant | |
| 1990 | Maine | Running backs coach | |
| 1991 | Maine | Assistant defensive line | |
| 1992 | Maine | Defensive line coach | |
| 1993 | Maine | Wide receivers and tight ends coach | |
| 1994–99 | Maine | Quarterbacks coach | |
| 2000–06 | Maine | Assistant head coach, offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| 2009–19 | Old Dominion | Head coach | |
| 2024–present | Tennessee Tech | Head coach |
Every job as the infobox of his Wikipedia article lists it (CC BY-SA), assistant jobs included.
Coaching tree
Worked under
- Jack BicknellBoston College
- Kirk FerentzMaine
- Jack CosgroveMaine
Assistants who became head coaches
- Andy RondeauPace
- Jarod DodsonAlfred State
- Rich NagyAllegheny, Lehigh
- John AllenBerlin Thunder, Lock Haven
- Thomas SydeskiMercyhurst
- Bryan StinespringVirginia Tech, Roanoke
- David BlackwellEast Carolina
Worked under (3)
| Head coach | Team | Years | His job | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jack Bicknell | Boston College | 1988–89 | Graduate assistant | |
| Kirk Ferentz | Maine | 1990–92 | 1990: running backs coach; 1991: assistant defensive line; 1992: defensive line coach | |
| Jack Cosgrove | Maine | 1993–2006 | 1993: wide receivers and tight ends coach; 1994–99: quarterbacks coach; 2000–06: assistant head coach, offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach |
Coached under him, later head coaches (7)
| Coach | With him | Head coach at | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Andy Rondeau | Old Dominion, 2009–11: defensive coordinator and linebackers coach | Pace | |
| Jarod Dodson | Old Dominion, 2010–11: defensive backs coach | Alfred State | |
| Rich Nagy | Old Dominion, 2013–14: defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach; 2015–18: defensive coordinator and linebackers coach | Allegheny, Lehigh | |
| John Allen | Old Dominion, 2018–19: wide receivers coach; Tennessee Tech, 2024–26: wide receivers coach | Berlin Thunder, Lock Haven | |
| Thomas Sydeski | Old Dominion, 2018: offensive quality control coach | Mercyhurst | |
| Bryan Stinespring | Old Dominion, 2019: tight ends coach and RCG | Virginia Tech, Roanoke | |
| David Blackwell | Old Dominion, 2019: defensive coordinator and inside linebackers coach | East Carolina |
Other assistants under him (3)
| Coach | With him | |
|---|---|---|
| Corey Hetherman | Old Dominion, 2011: outside linebackers coach; 2012–13: defensive recruiting coordinator and linebackers coach | |
| Brian Scott | Old Dominion, 2014–19: offensive coordinator | |
| Grady Brown | Old Dominion, 2019: co-defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach |
From coaches’ Wikipedia infoboxes (CC BY-SA) and each season’s article for its coordinators: an assistant’s seasons at a school count under its head coach in our records; jobs in the NFL and elsewhere, under the head coach whose own article lists the job that year. Names without a page here link to their Wikipedia articles.
Pay
| Year | School | Job | Contract pay | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Old Dominion | head coachbonuses up to $504,506; $10,000 in bonuses paid; buyout $1,500,000 | $650,000 USA Today | |
| 2016 | Old Dominion | head coachbonuses up to $504,506 | $569,590 USA Today | |
| 2015 | Old Dominion | head coachbonuses up to $504,125 | $565,000 USA Today | |
| 2014 | Old Dominion | head coachbonuses up to $503,333 | $486,010 USA Today |
USA Today’s coaches salary database (2014–17, from public-records requests to the schools; Rachel Ehlers’ copy): the season’s contract pay, school pay plus outside money, before bonuses.
Pay of public employees in their public job only: head coaches, and assistants in the seasons our records name them a coordinator, at public universities.
How he coached
Wilder’s teams went for it on 28% of fourth downs and on 43% of those where the model said go for it, passed on 52% of plays and took 24.3 seconds a play, 2014–2019.
| Season | Went for it on fourth | When the model said go | Pass rate | Seconds a play | EPA a play | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 11 g | 27 of 72 38% | 56% | 59% | 22.5 | +0.16 | |
| 2015 12 g | 25 of 106 24% | 38% | 55% | 23.3 | −0.04 | |
| 2016 12 g | 31 of 99 31% | 40% | 45% | 26.0 | +0.09 | |
| 2017 12 g | 25 of 112 22% | 41% | 46% | 24.6 | −0.10 | |
| 2018 12 g | 30 of 101 30% | 40% | 57% | 22.6 | +0.02 | |
| 2019 12 g | 34 of 121 28% | 47% | 53% | 26.6 | −0.17 | |
| All 71 g | 172 of 611 28% | 43% | 52% | 24.3 | −0.01 |
His seasons as a head coach from 2004 on, from ESPN’s play by play: fourth downs where he went for it out of every fourth-down decision; how often he went when SportsDataverse’s fourth-down model said going for it was the better call; the share of his offense’s plays that were passes; seconds of game clock per offensive play (lower is faster); and expected points added per offensive play (EPA, a measure of how much each play moved the offense toward points). The season in progress counts its games so far. SportsDataverse’s coach tendencies, from ESPN’s play by play; the EPA and the fourth-down model are SportsDataverse’s.