COOKEVILLE, Tenn. --- Tennessee Tech head football coach Bobby Wilder continues to get the band back together as he brings in Eric Acciani to join the Golden Eagle coaching staff to oversee the quarterbacks.
"I am pleased to have Eric Acciani joining the Tennessee Tech football family as our new quarterback coach," Wilder said. "I had the pleasure of working with Eric at Old Dominion. He is familiar with the scheme that Coach (Brian) Scott and I like to run offensively, and our quarterbacks will be excited to learn from him."
Acciani said: "I am incredibly excited to get started at Tennessee Tech. Being able to work with Coach Wilder again is a dream come true. I am confident in our ability to build a championship program that our community will be proud of. I'm eager to get to work with our quarterbacks and get this offense firing. Wings Up!"
Acciani, most recently, has been the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Division II Mercyhurst. The Lakers, behind quarterback Adam Urena this season, passed for 2,715 yards and 23 touchdowns. Urena ranked 12th nationally in Division II in completions per game, 19th in passing yards and 22nd in passing touchdowns. Mercyhurst ranked fourth nationally in the number of receivers with a touchdown and 29th in third-down percentage.
Under his watch, the Lakers' offense improved in rushing yards, passing yards and passing touchdowns, while also seeing an offensive improvement with 91 more yards per game, 64 more passing yards per game and a 14-percent improvement on third-down percentage.
He spent the 2021 season with Virginia Union as its quarterbacks coach and pass game coordinator, guiding the Panthers to the second-best passing offense in the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association, as well as the league's top third-down percentage, while raising the completion percentage and lowering the number of interceptions.
Acciani worked at Old Dominion from December 2015 to December 2020, starting as an offensive quality control assistant before serving as an offensive graduate assistant from 2018 to 2020. Under his watch, the Monarchs' offense improved from 24.3 points per game in 2015 to 36 points per game the following season, while the fourth-down conversion rate improved from 32 percent to 57 percent. The team's passing efficiency improved from 100th to 27th nationally, while turnovers decreased dramatically from 19 to nine.
In 2018, ODU ranked third in Conference USA in total offense and was second in passing offense.
Before joining the staff at ODU, Acciani was the offensive coordinator of the Allgäu Comets in the German Football League, leading the team to its first winning season and first playoff appearance. The team improved from six wins to 15, became the ninth-leading rushing team and finished in the top six of every offensive category in the league.
He also coached high school football in California at El Toro High School and Diamond Bar High School.
Acciani received his bachelor's degree from Cal State-Fullerton in 2016 in history, then earned his master's in education at Old Dominion in 2020.
