FEATURES – SEPTEMBER 2009

Aim High

BOBBY WILDER, ODU'S NEW HEAD FOOTBALL COACH, BRINGS A COMPETITIVE FIRE TO HAMPTON ROADS SPORTS AS THE TEAM'S DEBUT SEASON KICKS OFF

By Michael Jon Khandelwal

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When Bobby Wilder was hired to re-start the football program at Old Dominion University in 2007, he was up for the challenge. After spending 17 years at the University of Maine, rising to associate head coach and offensive coordinator, he has energized the ODU campus and inspired all of Hampton Roads with the return of ODU football.

Wilder, who celebrated his 45th birthday in August, makes his home in Norfolk with wife, Pam, and sons, Derek and Drew. His energy and passion abound. His motto for the team is "Aim High," and his philosophy is to always compete, no matter the situation.

He recently sat down for an interview with Hampton Roads Magazine in his office located in the new Powhatan Sports Complex, which houses the new football offices, athletic and strength training areas, locker rooms and two practice fields. While eating a mid-morning granola bar, Wilder spoke about his new program, his hopes for it and his affection for his new home in Hampton Roads.

You came to the ODU job after being a long-time assistant at Maine. What are some of the exciting challenges you've encountered building a program from scratch?
Where do you want to start? Everything had to be done from the ground up, as there was no program in place. We kick off Sept. 5—it'll be the first game in 69 years. One of the great things about stepping into this job is the fact that so much planning had been done at the administrative level before I was hired—the renovations to Foreman Field had been planned and they'd hired two well-known consultants to lay out a blueprint for what the football program would be. The biggest challenge has been that since I've been here since February 2007, for myself and most of the coaches, it'll have been three years since we've actually coached in a game.

What was your impression of spring camp?
It was an improvement over the fall. In the fall, we had players who were just learning what we were doing offensively, defensively and with special teams, what our expectations are academically and what expectations are for how they carry themselves on campus. This spring showed great improvement in all those areas. And we added 10 players who joined us as mid-year transfers; we brought players who had actually played college football somewhere to our team.

Have you seen leadership emerge from your players in the program?
When you talk about leadership, it's such a broad word. Sometimes in college football, it's hard to see leadership until you actually play games. They need to get on the field and show what they can do and gain the confidence in the fact that they can be successful. Then they can become leaders. We've done a leadership seminar with our team, because I think leadership is not something you're born with— I think it's something you learn through your life experiences.

What can fans expect from the offense and defense during your first season?
To see a brand new program that's playing games for the first time ... what you would expect when you see somebody who's doing something for the first time—they'll be excited, they'll compete, they'll make mistakes, and hopefully we'll quickly learn from our mistakes. It's going to be a process of try ing to find out who we are as an offense, as a defense and with special teams based on how our players perform when they get out on the field. That'll dictate how we run our operation as coaches. The expectation levels for all of us—me included—are we want to be successful every time we take the field. But it's going to be a building process.

What are your goals for the program this year?
I want to see that every time we're on the field, we're competitive, that we go out and play hard from the time the whistle blows from the start till the end. I've not set goals in terms of wins and losses; that wouldn't make any sense at the point. ODU hasn't played a game in 69 years, so there's really no reference point as to what we'll be. Once we get through this first season and we start to bring in some recruiting classes, then we'll be able to better have an understanding of who we are as a program. This year, when we kick off, we're going to be predominately red-shirt freshmen and true freshmen. Every program we play against is going to have fifth-year seniors and fourth-year juniors.

How does being a new program help or hinder the recruiting process?
It's definitely helped us in recruiting, because it's exciting. Everything is brand new. When people come on this campus, we get the same reaction every time—there's a wow factor when they see this facility, when they see the football stadium, when they see what's going on across campus. Our facilities rival anybody in the FCS-level in the country, and when people see that, they want to be part

What do you do when you're frustrated with your work?
I have a philosophy that I learned early on—when I wake up in the morning and my feet hit the floor, I'm going to make it a great day. My glass is always half full. I'm always going to do something to get better. I fail as many times as I succeed during the day because I set my goals high with what I want to accomplish with this program. So when I get frustrated, I just get right back to the drawing board and say "let's start working on Plan B." I've never been the type of person to quit. I just don't accept that; I don't accept that from anybody who's involved with the program. We're always going to find a way to be successful. That requires a lot of hard work and people having a great attitude.

What do you like most about Hampton Roads?
I love the fact that you can pretty much look in all four directions wherever you're standing and there's a chance you can see water. The climate here makes people generally have a better disposition. Here, there's a good chance you will see the sun every day of the year. I like the fact that there's so much to do in this area. You have so much history, the Navy, all the museums, the beaches. We're members of Busch Gardens and Water Country USA. There's not a day in the year that you can't find something to do here if you enjoy what this area has to offer.

What would you change about Hampton Roads if you could?
Probably the pretty standard answer you get when you ask everybody: the traffic.

What's your idea of a great time out in Hampton Roads?
No question. We enjoy the beaches.

What is the local landmark that holds the most meaning for you?
The top two would be the Virginia Beach Oceanfront and East Beach in Ocean View. Those two are phenomenal. I like to spend a lot of time there with my family.

2009 ODU FOOTBALL SCHEDULE


Sept. 5

Chowan

Sept. 12

Virginia Union

Sept. 19

at Jacksonville

Sept. 26

Monmouth

Oct. 3

at Fordham

Oct. 10

Presbyterian

Oct. 17

Campbell

Oct. 24

at Savannah State

Oct. 31

Georgetown

Nov. 7

North Carolina Central

Nov. 21

at VMI

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