UTC football player Wes DothardUniversity of Tennessee at Chattanooga linebacker Wes Dothard was named to the Sports Network's 2011 All-America first team following a very productive sophomore season. Heading into the 2012 season, he'll have to change some voters' minds to get back to the first team.
Dothard was named preseason second-team All-America by the Sports Network on Monday. UTC senior defensive end Josh Williams was a third-team selection.
Both Dothard and Williams were first-team All-Southern Conference players in 2011.
"With Wes you kind of knew things like this would happen coming into the season," Mocs coach Russ Huesman said. "I'm just glad to see that Josh is getting some notoriety. He's had a really good three years for us and has kind of gone about it a little quietly."
Dothard was seventh in the SoCon last season with 98 tackles and fourth in tackles for loss with 15.5. He also shared the league lead with five forced fumbles and returned a fumble and an interception for touchdowns.
Williams became UTC's all-time sack leader in 2011 -- he has 21.5 after three seasons -- and led the SoCon in sacks with 9.5.
Eight of the nine SoCon teams had at least one player on the All-America lists. Appalachian State led the way with three, UTC and Wofford had two apiece and Furman, Georgia Southern, The Citadel, Elon and Samford each had one player selected.
Contact John Frierson at jfrierson@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6268. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/mocsbeatCTFP.