TUCKER STADIUM
Tucker Stadium, the home venue for the Tennessee Tech football
program since the Golden Eagles moved into the facility in 1966,
underwent an extensive surface renovation in 2007. The facility
upgrades included the installation of 24/7 turf by The Motz Group,
as well as renovations and a new surface to the nine-lane track. In
2008, new lights were installed at the stadium, and in 2009 the
working press box received a major overhaul and technological
upgrades.
In 2007, attendance at Tech football games nearly doubled over the
previous year’s, season ticket sales set records, topping the
2,000 mark, and the Golden Eagles had the largest opening game
crowd in school history.
The venue is named in tribute to former Golden Eagle coach
Wilburn Tucker.
The center stage of the stadium is Overall Field, named to
recognize longtime Tech coach and administrator Putty Overall.
The stadium features a two-level press box on each side, with the
West Box hosting the working press and the East Box hosting the
president and his guests.
With the addition of the 24/7 turf, the latest in technology,
material and equipment was used to ensure that Tucker Stadium is
one of the finest facilities in the Ohio Valley
Conference.
Tucker Stadium opened for grid action for the 1966 season with
seating for 12,500. In the first game in the facility, UT-
Chattanooga came to town and handed coach Don Wade's Golden Eagles
a 17-7 loss. Two weeks later, Tech posted its first victory in the
stadium, topping East Tennessee State, 14-3.
The facility was expanded to its present capacity of 16,500 prior
to the 1971 season. In 39 college football seasons, it has hosted
1,532,281 fans at 221 games. Tech has hosted 21 crowds of better
than 12,000 fans and owns a 12-8-1 record in those contests,
including a record 12,831 for the game against Cumberland in the
2007 opener. The largest attendance came against Morehead State in
1971, when 16,521 folks crowded into the newly enlarged
facility.
The 2009 Golden Eagles were unbeaten at home, posting a 5-0
record. Golden Eagle teams have had three other unbeaten home
seasons, going 11-0 over two consecutive seasons, with a 5-0 mark
in 1971 and 6-0 in 1972. Tech was also 5-0 in 2001.
The facility was officially dedicated as Tucker Stadium at
Homecoming ceremonies on Oct. 18, 1980, in honor of former
coach Wilburn Tucker, who served on the Golden Eagle staff for 21
years. The playing field itself retained its designation as Overall
Field, named for coach P.V. Overall, who was head coach at Tech for
26 years. Both men are in the Tech Sports Hall of Fame and the OVC
Hall of Fame.
When the stadium was built in 1966, it featured a press box on the
West side for the working press. The second box -- for use by
TTU's president and guests -- plus 4,000 additional seats, were
added to the East side of the stadium in 1971.
The first synthetic turf was laid in 1970 and was replaced in
1980. That turf lasted 13 years until Stadia Turf was installed in
1994, the surface that was replaced in 2007.