Tennessee
Tennessee Tech football coach Dewayne Alexander fired after sixth season
Dewayne Alexander was relieved of his duties Tuesday after six seasons as Tennessee Tech’s football coach.
Alexander led Tech to a 35-0 win at Tennessee State in its final game of the season last Saturday leaving the Golden Eagles with a 4-7 overall record and 2-4 in the the Big South/Ohio Valley Conference. They finished in a four-way tie for sixth in the conference. It was the second straight season Tech finished 4-7.
Alexander’s career record was 20-43. The Hendersonville native played at Tech and served as an assistant coach earlier in his career.
“It has been an honor and a privilege to serve as the head football coach at my alma mater,” Alexander said. “I have served as a player, a graduate assistant coach, an assistant coach and as head coach for the past four decades. God opened the door for me to serve as the head football coach at TTU on December 17, 2017. I have tried to honor that opportunity with passion, enthusiasm and the ‘Golden Eagle Way’ each and every day.
Sam Williamson, the longest tenured coach on the Tech’s staff in his 17th season, will serve as acting head coach until a new coach is hired.
Athletic director Mark Wilson will begin his search immediately for a new coach.
“Dewayne Alexander is a proud Tech Football alum and we thank him for all of the hard work and dedication he has poured into this program for the past six seasons,” Wilson said. “We truly appreciate the devotion and commitment he showed to our student-athletes. We certainly wish him and his family great success in their future endeavors.”
After being hired in 2018, Alexander led Tech to a 1-10 record season. The Golden Eagles improved to 6-6 in 2019, their best record winning the OVC in 2011 and the second-best turnaround in the FCS.
Alexander led the program through the COVID-19 pandemic and its first STATS FCS Top 25 ranking since 2011.
Sam Williamson will step in as acting head coach for the Golden Eagle football team as they enter the offseason and prepare for the recruiting periods in December and February. Williamson, the longest-tenured coach currently at Tech, is in his 17th season with the staff after joining the program with head coach Watson Brown in 2007.
Tennessee Tech has partnered with Collegiate Sports Associates (CSA) to support the University’s search. CSA is a nationally recognized search firm that has conducted more than 300 searches throughout collegiate athletics and more than 40 searches for head football coaches, including recent searches at similarly positioned peers such as Austin Peay, Western Carolina and Towson.