In 25 years as both an assistant and later head coach at his alma mater, Worrell was part of more than 500 victories, including amassing an amazing record of 408-190 (68.2%) in 20 years as the head coach. He joined the Tennessee Tech program as an assistant coach in 1981 and took over as head coach in 1986, serving in that capacity until his retirement in Sept. 2006. He guided the Golden Eagles to 12 regular season championships and eight OVC Tournament titles in his 20 years on the bench and his teams compiled an impressive 245-67 (78.5%) mark in Conference play.
Over a three-year span Tech won an OVC-record 28 straight league games. Worrell’s squads made nine trips to the postseason, eight of those to the NCAA Tournament. That includes five straight NCAA berths from 1989 through 1993, a stretch where TTU won games against South Carolina (1989) and Richmond (1990) in the first round of the tournament. Worrell-coached squads also won a first round NCAA game in 1987 (vs. Southern Miss). Worrell was named OVC Coach of the Year four times (1987, 1990, 1992, and 2000), coached 19 players who earned All-American honors and six who were named OVC Player of the Year. Worrell also earned an OVC Coach of the Year award as head coach of Tech’s men’s tennis squad (1986).