Chattanooga: Mocs assistants happy to be at UTC

The excitement among fans and alumni about the change in direction for the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football program was evident on Dec. 22, when Russ Huesman was introduced as the Mocs’ new coach.

About 200 supporters showed up for the news conference that day at Finley Stadium, and Huesman said he was shocked by the turnout. He was shocked again Friday afternoon when a few dozen Mocs fans attended the news conference at McKenzie Arena introducing his assistant coaches.

“I’ve never had to introduce my staff before, but I certainly didn’t expect anyone to show up for that,” he said afterward.

Seven of the eight coaches hired by the former Richmond defensive coordinator were present — defensive assistant Marcus West wasn’t able to arrive in time — and nobody appeared more excited about being at UTC than offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield, who spent the past three seasons at UT-Martin.

In 1999, former UTC coach Buddy Green gave Satterfield his first job in coaching — Satterfield said Green paid him out of his own pocket a salary of $300 that first year — and now a decade later the Greenback native is back and ready to help turn around the Mocs’ struggling program.

“Ever since I left this place, I had a goal of coming back as a coordinator and trying to help this place get to where it needs to be,” he said. “I told Russ when I was talking to him the other night, I’m sick of people saying why can’t Chattanooga win? What’s the problem when you’ve got a great town and great potential there? I want to be part of this staff over the next four to six years that gets it put on the map.”

Satterfield, who coached at UTC from 1999 to 2001 and was at Richmond with Huesman for one season, said the offense he will run will be similar to what UT-Martin has used with great success the past three seasons. The Skyhawks were 16th in the nation this season in total offense with 405.6 yards per game, with 170.5 coming on the ground and 235.1 through the air.

He said UTC will run a pro-style offense that starts with two backs and sometimes features one, taking advantage of the best matchups on the field on each play.

“We’re going to do what our kids allow us to do,” he said. “Our motto is: We’re not going to waste a play. We’ll take what the defense gives us and go from there.”

It is the goal of defensive coordinator Mike Elko to try to keep the Mocs from giving opponents anything. The defensive coordinator at Hofstra the past three seasons — he was the linebackers coach at Richmond for two seasons before that — said UTC’s 4-3 defense will be very similar to what he used at Hofstra and what Richmond used under Huesman.

“It was nice when we got to Richmond. Russ and I got there together, and we kind of built that thing together,” Elko said. “It started with his principles and I added my twist to it, and then you go off for three years and you run it and it branches off a little bit. ... At the heart of it, the philosophy never changes. I think that’s where it becomes a very comfortable fit for the two of us to work together.”

Sophomore defensive end Jaron Norfleet was present Friday and said he was very happy that defensive line coach Fred Tate was retained and that Huesman was the candidate chosen as head coach.

“Watching Richmond in the national championship game take Montana and basically almost destroy them, it’s very exciting to have a defensive-minded coach come in,” he said. “Plus, getting back to work with Coach Tate and all the other coaches, I can’t wait to get started.

“From all the other players I’ve talked to, we’re all ready to come back and get to work and start out fresh.”

Huesman will meet with the team for the first time Monday, when the spring semester begins, and offseason workouts with strength coach Scott Brincks are scheduled to begin Tuesday morning.