By Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – One can forgive Tennessee Tech head football coach Dewayne Alexander if he doesn't look too rested after the holiday break as he gets going to lead the Golden Eagle program.
After all, he spent the break moving out of his former office in Johnson City and moving into his new digs in Cookeville.
"It's been a hectic few days," Alexander said. "I had to get everything out of my office. Everyone asks me what I did for New Year's, and that's what I did. My son went with me and we drove to Johnson City and got everything out of there. I met with (East Tennessee State athletic director) Scott Carter and turned in my keys and took care of all that stuff."
|
||
| Former Tennessee Tech football player and longtime supporter Danny Brooks hands a donation check to new Golden Eagle head football coach Dewayne Alexander. Fans and alumni who wish to donate can do so by contacting Director of Annual Giving and Stewardship Kristie Phillips or by visiting the Hooper Eblen Center ticket office. |
And getting to move into the head coach's office in Tucker Stadium had its own share of transition.
"Right now, I'm still unpacking my office," Alexander joked. "I've done pretty good. I've gotten a bunch of it set up. I had to get an e-mail account. I started officially on January 2, I didn't have an e-mail account over the holiday break, I didn't have a phone or credentials to get things like that. Now it's just trying to get my feet on the ground and meet with all of the people who touch our program."
"During my interview, I had a 30-day plan. I went over it with all of the different committees and it was something that I felt very strongly about. You need that. This isn't the first program that I've taken over as a head coach, and you need to make as much impact as you can in a short period of time."
While the hiring process came about quickly just before the Christmas holiday, it came through at nearly a perfect time.
"The timing of this job comes at the beginning of the new year," Alexander said. "Grades are coming out, you're trying to put your coaching staff together, trying to take care of your current roster because they were all going home for Christmas break when I took the job, trying to identify who we have on the team, our recruiting needs and our available scholarships.
"We want to finish recruiting strong. It's a dead period right now, so, in a way, that's helped because we can't leave campus and prospects can't come see us. This gives me a chance to focus on our current team, what our needs are and to get our coaching staff in place. We'll get going once again when the dead period ends on January 12."
And one of the biggest positives may have been the early football signing day as the Golden Eagles locked down six fantastic prep stars anxious to make their mark at Tech. But that's just the beginning.
"It was unique this year that we were able to sign six guys here at Tech in December, so now we just have to see what scholarships we have available and how we can best serve our current roster and our recruiting needs," Alexander said. "We're certainly going to get our coaching staff on board. We're in the process of doing all of that – you have to interview, you have to talk to guys, you have to get all the paperwork taken care of with human resources, so (associate athletic director) Tammie McMillan and (director of athletics) Mark (Wilson) have been helping me a lot with that. The phone hasn't stopped when it comes to that, and I'd really like to have that set before the players return on January 15."
It's not just the players and coaches that Alexander would like to have on the same page as the spring semester begins as he aims to have the program running like a well-oiled machine.
"I still have to meet with academics, with (strength and conditioning) Coach (Casey) Kramer, go over class schedules and when we're going to lift," Alexander said. "There's just so many of those initial meetings that have to take place when you take over a program and try to get all the people on board."
"The biggest thing is that on January 15, we hit the ground running. I've already been trying to connect with alumni, I already have a letter that I've been working on with (director of annual giving and stewardship) Kristie Phillips on and we're on the finishing touches to get it out to everybody. We're putting together a calendar for the spring on when we're going to practice, recruit and have camps. These are things you have to have in place now in order to get on everyone else's calendar."
One of the most important things is that it seems that many players and supporters have bought in and are ready to go.
"So far, it's been very positive," Alexander said. "I've already been in contact with a lot of them. Coach Sam Williamson has been a big help with providing me with phone numbers. He knows all of them because he's been on the staff. But I've had a lot of them reach out to me. I've coached many of them here before and know themquite well.
"From alumni to appearing at a couple of basketball games and meeting with alumni and supporters, to having parents of different players reaching out, it's all been very positive. There's a lot of excitement with what we're going to try to do here."
Photos by Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information