What the future holds for the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football team’s seniors is anyone’s guess. But those who are still chasing their professional dreams will need to be at their best today.
The Mocs will hold their senior pro day today, during which the players will have the opportunity to demonstrate their strength and speed to scouts by doing a variety of drills and exercises both in the weight room and on the turf at Finley Stadium.
The better the numbers, the better the odds a player has of getting a closer look from an NFL team.
“This is our chance, baby,” said safety Chris Camacho, who was voted first-team All-Southern Conference by the coaches and the media and second-team All-America by The Sports Newtork.
Camacho is one of several former Mocs who hope to shine today. Others include the other three starters in the secondary for most of the 2007 season: safety Jeff Phillips and cornerbacks Ronnie Jackson and Brandon Golder.
Most of the former Mocs have been working out together daily during the past couple of months. Camacho, who led the SoCon with an average of 12.3 tackles per game, said they’re training as hard as they did leading up to their senior seasons but focusing on different things.
“We’re focused on weightlifting and our speed,” Camacho said. “We’re doing everything we can to be ready for what we’re going to be tested on.”
The pro day will start in UTC’s weight room, where the players’ height and weight will be measured, as will their vertical leap, and where they will tested in the bench press and the broad jump. Later in the day they will do speed work, including the 40-yard dash, at Finley Stadium.
Strength and conditioning coach Scott Brincks said Sunday that several NFL teams are expected to have representatives in attendance for the pro day, but none had fully committed.
Along with some of the seniors from the 2007 team, former UTC wide receivers Michael Johnson and Emanuel Hassell, who wrapped up their careers in 2006, are expected to participate. Johnson led the Mocs with 631 receiving yards and eight touchdown catches his senior year before suffering an Achilles’ tendon tear prior last year’s pro day.
Hassell led UTC with 62 receptions in 2006 and was signed by the British Columbia Lions of the Canadian Football League in May but was released a few weeks later.
“It’s been a long wait for me — it’s been pretty rough,” said Johnson, who said he will graduate at the end of spring semester. “I’ve been planning on this for a long time now, and hopefully I’ll have a good day.”
Pro day prospects
As many as a dozen former UTC players are expected to participate in the senior pro day today, including four members of the Mocs’ secondary. Among the players who hope to impress NFL scouts are:
Offense
Sam Bentley, OL
*Michael Johnson, WR
Antonio Miller, ATH
Defense
Chris Camacho, DB
Brandon Golder, DB
Ronnie Jackson, DB
Chris Johnson, LB
Jeff Phillips, DB
Charles Profit, DL
* Eligibility expired after the 2006 season
John Frierson is in his fifth year at the Times Free Press and fifth year covering University of Tennessee at Chattanooga athletics. The bulk of his time is spent covering Mocs football, but he also writes about women’s basketball and the big-picture issues and news involving the athletic department. A native of Athens, Ga., John grew up a few hundred yards from the University of Georgia campus. Instead of becoming a Bulldog he attended Ole ...
