Greeson: Huesman celebrated for his 6-5

What do six wins in 11 games get you?

Ask Charlie Weis, and the response may involve pink slips. Ask Mark Richt, and the conclusions very well may point toward a staff overhaul. Ask Lane Kiffin, and the chatter will center on the first step in the process.

Ask Russ Huesman, and the answers may be hard to hear from all the background noise of back slaps and high-fives.

"We beat Glenville State, and everybody was going crazy," Huesman said to a packed house Monday at the Chattanooga Quarterback Club luncheon meeting at Finley Staidum. "And I was thinking, 'We beat a Division II team. What's the big deal?'

"We lost to Furman, and everybody was excited that we played hard. We beat Presbyterian for our first road win in a long time, and everybody was really excited. I thought, 'This is a pretty easy racket here. We win two pretty easy games, and everybody's going nuts.'"

Going nuts, that was the general consensus of Monday's collective group hug for Huesman, the UTC alumnus who jumpstarted the program when he returned as head coach last December. He inherited a team that was mired in disappointment, a group that bounced between punchline and punching bag on a week-to-week basis and a roster that was frustrated almost to the point of no return.

"They've been taking a beating here for a long time," Huesman said, "not winning games and really struggling. This team, these seniors, they are the ones that helped turned this around, and I give them all the credit in the world."

Six wins in 11 games. It may be simple math, but it is not a universal equation. Expections -- those that are overblown or underwhelming -- factor greatly into the numbers. Perspective -- from inside and outside a program -- is the variable that changes the significance exponentially.

With far from a clean slate, Huesman was able to craft a winner, and that was not lost on Monday's crowd that included several fans who said they were sad to see football season end. In most locales around the South, that sentiment is the 11th Commandment. Here it is preposterous. At least until this year.

"I don't remember what I spoke about when I came to the Quarterback Club before the season," Huesman said. "I just remember there was great optimism."

That optimism masked the starvation for success and the hunger for respectability. Now Huesman has delivered a measure of each, and the rewards are deserved.

He was there early and stayed late, listening to positive questions delivered with positive tones about his propensity for onside kicks and whether he ever thought about running for mayor of our comfortable town. Rest easy, Mr. Littlefield, Huesman is happy where he is and looking to be better in days ahead.

"We were playing for something meanignful in November, and that's important and makes things interesting," Huesman said. "But I told the team after The Citadel game that from this time on, six (wins) is the bare minimum. We're going to be playing meaningful games in November for Southern Conference championships and playoff spots. It's going to happen here.

"We were better than we've been, and it was good enough to win five or six games this year. It's not going to be good enough from now on."

Success begets success, but it also begets higher expectations. Huesman is counting on the former and ready for the latter.

"I can finally say it now: I am proud of the these guys," Huesman told the largest Quarterback Club gathering since the 1980s before peeking toward 2010. "We're going to open with Appalachian State next year, and we're trying to get it on a Thursday night.

"But whether it's on Thursday or a Saturday, there better be 20,000 people in Finley Stadium."

Sounds like Huesman's raising expectations for everyone involved in the Mocs program, fans included.