UPDATE 6/30/2020 -- Team slots for the 30th TTU Football Alumni Reunion Weekend and Golf Classic have sold out. There are still a limited number of individual spots available. Please call Kristie Phillips at (931) 372-6857 for more information and to check availability. You can still register online for the reunion weekend with no golf or individually for the Friday or Saturday night dinners.
By Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Thirty years ago, the Tennessee Tech football team started an annual tradition of bringing its alumni back to Cookeville with the TTU Football Alumni Reunion and Golf Classic.
With Golden Eagle legends Jim Ragland and Mike Ledford overseeing the early years, then through the watchful eyes and efforts of Larry Schreiber, Tom Pemberton and Ottis Phillips, the event grew, becoming a valuable asset to the Tech football program.
In the years since, nearly $500,000 has been raised for the program and the Robert Hill Johnson Endowment.
Today in these turbulent financial times, the TTU Football Alumni Reunion and Golf Classic, now under the direction of tournament chair Sam Brooks, has become as vital as ever for the football program.
The event will be held on July 10 and 11 at Golden Eagle Golf Club. Information on the event and links to register can be found here.
"First of all, it's an honor to be helping out in being the chair the last couple of years," Brooks said. "I've learned a lot about the tournament and all the work involved in it by the people behind the scenes to make it all come off. I'm honored to work with those guys and Kristie Phillips, who really helps us hold everything together.
"For me, it's just about being able to give back to the football team. It's something that's meant so much to me. When you're a player, you sometimes start to think the world owes you something or Tennessee Tech owes you something. When you graduate, you figure that out real quick. You picked up great abilities and additions to your life because you were involved in it."
Brooks continued, "It's just been neat to see that take place and be around a lot of people who owe a lot to Tennessee Tech. For the tournament, it's just a great opportunity to get the guys back. For many of them, it's a yearly event. A lot of them come in earlier in the week, hang around Cookeville, visit and see the changes around town."
The golf tournament itself isn't the only draw as the Friday night Tony Stone BBQ dinner and the reunion gives the alumni a chance to reconnect. The dinner is named for the former Tech defensive coordinator whose "Bumble Bee" defensive backs in the late 60s and early 70s wreaked havoc on the Ohio Valley Conference. A former Golden Eagle player himself from 1956 to 1958, the Tony Stone "Bumble Bee" Defensive Back award, given to the top Tech DB of the year, as well as a scholarship endowment, carries his name.
"You continue to hear these stories as we're sitting at the dinner table and they just get bigger and bigger every year," Brooks said with a laugh. "I'm just honored to get to meet some of the legends that put on the cleats here at Tennessee Tech and get to hear those tales about their playing days."
The biggest challenge for this year's event is working around the limitations created from the COVID-19 situation.
"The thing you hear the most is social distancing," Brooks said. "With something like the dinner, we're going to add tents so people will feel comfortable with spreading themselves out as much as they want to. We're not going to force anyone to wear masks, but if they want to wear one, they can do that.
"The situation is something we're very aware of and we want to make sure everyone involved feels comfortable when they get here."
Brooks saw the event in its inception all those years ago, starting as a small event at Ironwood in 1990 and growing to one of Tech's major summer events.
"It was one of my last years on the team," he said. "I finished up and got to be a part of it on that first year. It was basically just a fellowship event and golf was just part of it. Coach Ragland just wanted that to grow and Mike Ledford took the lead in that. I think we had about 50 guys here that first year. The Youngbloods, the Schreibers, the Fitzpatricks -- the guys we've all heard about, they really got behind it and it just took off from there.
"Being there the first year was nice, and in the 30 years, I've been back for most of those. Watching the change and growth has just been tremendous. Last year was the biggest one we've had. Our goal this year is to get 300 people back and we had over 200 last year."
Brooks noted, "It's a lofty goal with COVID, but hopefully we can achieve that."
With the budget situation stemming from the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, it makes the fundraising effort from the weekend extremely vital for Tennessee Tech football.
"There's no doubt," Brooks said. "Last year, we raised right around $45,000 and gave the players the opportunity to give back to Tech football in their name. Hopefully, we can do that again. It's very much needed with all the cuts going on across the nation."
One of the neatest additions this year is a commemorative coin, marking the 30th anniversary of the event.
"I think the first time we talked about it, we thought, with the anniversary, it was an interesting idea to have something to remember it by," Brooks said. "We thought it was a great idea. Then we got the mockups of the actual coin and everyone was amazed. It was a pretty unanimous vote and we knew we wanted to do that, because it's just a beautiful coin. I posted a picture of it on our Facebook page a couple of times and it got huge response. We're excited about that and I don't think we could have done anything better than to have that coin to give to everyone who comes back."
Registration for the tournament is online at this link. You can also mail the completed form with fees to TTU Athletics, PO Box 5057, Cookeville, TN 38505; or call the Hooper Eblen Center Ticket Office at (931) 372-3940 and pay with credit/debit card.
For more information, contact Kristie Phillips at (931) 372-6857 or e-mail at kphillips@tntech.edu.
Photo | Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
