By Robbie Neiswanger
Arkansas News Bureau • rneiswanger@arkansasnews.com
FAYETTEVILLE — Watson Brown believes traveling to play 17th-ranked Arkansas is important for so many reasons.
It’s an opportunity for Brown, Tennessee Tech’s fourth-year coach, to see his team on the field. It’s a big test, too, one he believes will make the Golden Eagles much better as they chase a conference championship. And nothing can top the amount of exposure that comes with playing, and trying to upset, a Top 25 opponent, either.
But then there’s this: The payout the Golden Eagles will receive from Arkansas for making the trip September is invaluable.
Tennessee Tech, a Football Championship Subdivision team, is facing an enormous task when it plays Arkansas on Saturday night. No doubt X’s and O’s will play a big role on the field, but Brown is also thinking about the big picture. That involves dollars and cents.
“This program is steadily improving,” Brown said Tuesday. “And the reason it is from the dollars we get in these games.”
It’s a philosophy Tennessee Tech has embraced since Brown was hired after his 12-year stint at Alabama-Birmingham ended in 2006. The 60-year-old, who is the older brother of Texas coach Mack Brown, wants Tennessee Tech competing for the Ohio Valley Championship on a yearly basis and the Golden Eagles took a positive step forward in 2009, finishing 6-5. It was their first winning record since 2004.
The season included losses at well-known Football Bowl Subdivision teams in Kansas State and Georgia. Tennessee Tech dropped both by a combined score of 87-7, but there were victories in the losses.
“With the guarantee games we’re able to make additional investments in football that we weren’t able to make,” Tennessee Tech athletic director Mark Wilson said. “And there has been money that has gone to support the operations of the total athletic program. …
“I think that just shows the commitment Tennessee Tech has to providing a positive student-athletic experience and developing a highly-competitive athletic program.”
The exact amount Arkansas will pay the Golden Eagles for the trip is not known. Arkansas does not make payout information available through Freedom of Information requests, citing a competitive advantage exemption. Wilson wouldn’t disclose the information when contacted Tuesday, either, saying it was up to the Razorbacks.
But Wilson put the importance of the paydays in perspective when he said the program’s total athletic department budget is roughly $9.5 million. Payouts for Tennessee Tech’s guarantee games against Arkansas and sixth-ranked Texas Christain, Wilson calculated, accounted for approximately 8.6 percent of that total.
“So it is a great chunk of our total athletic budget,” Wilson said.
Brown explained where it has helped, too, starting with new gear for football players. Roughly $10,000 went toward video equipment. And, of course, money helps improve facilities and bolster recruiting.
For instance: The program is building a 25,000 square-foot athletic performance center that includes a new weight room and indoor practice area. The facility is schedule to open in Jan. 2011.
“That money has been well spent and has been improving this program drastically to get us better players in here,” Brown said. “The last thing to come are the players. You’ve got to put all the other pieces in place. Tech had not been able to do that in a long time.”
The goal, Brown said, is to parlay the improvements into a program that will compete for Ohio Valley Conference championships on a yearly basis.
The Golden Eagles haven’t accomplished the feat since 1975, which is a 34-year drought. Brown said talent is a big factor.
So Tennessee Tech could lose big Saturday night. They could pull off an enormous upset, too. But no matter what the scoreboard looks like, Brown believes the Golden Eagles will move closer to their championship goals thanks to a guarantee game against Arkansas.
“Every bit of that is being done with these dollars,” Brown said of the improvements. “So this is very important to the Tech program.”
Saturday’s Ticket
Tennessee Tech at No. 17 Arkansas
When: 6 p.m.
Where: Reynolds Razorback Stadium
TV: Pay-Per-View
Radio: Razorback Sports Network
Satellite Radio: Sirius (Ch. 22); XM (Ch. 199)
Coaches: Arkansas — Bobby Petrino (13-12 in third season); Tennessee Tech — Watson Brown (13-21 in fourth season)
