Russ Huesman welcomes high expectations. They're a sign of significant progress for a University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football program that was down in the dumps less than two years ago and hasn't had consecutive winning seasons since 1990-91.
"Is there pressure on our guys? There might be, because people, I think, expect them to do well this year, and I'm glad it's like that," the second-year Mocs coach said following Saturday's practice at Scrappy Moore Field. "I really am glad people are excited about it."
Huesman's first season as a head coach was an across-the-board success. Now comes the hard part: raising the bar even higher.
"We've got to build off last year," sophomore running back J.J. Jackson said. "Coach always says last year there were no expectations, and he was right. Now we've got big shoes to fill."
In 2009, the Mocs had a winning season, attendance was way up and the foundation was laid for returning the program back to the top of the Southern Conference - where it was when Huesman played 30 years ago.
Huesman interviewed at UTC after the 2002 season, when then-athletic director Steve Sloan was looking for a replacement for Donnie Kirkpatrick. He didn't get the job, which went to Rodney Allison, who led the program for six seasons.
"I don't know how it would have been if I'd have gotten the job. I'm not sure," he said recently. "I think I was better prepared when I did get it because I had (six) more years of seeing things out there. Could I have survived? I thought so, but you never know."
Because expectations were low after the Mocs went 1-11 in 2008, UTC shocked a lot of people last fall. The Mocs went 6-5, averaged 10,503 fans a game at Finley Stadium last season and Huesman was named the SoCon coach of the year.
"It's different this year by a long shot because I think now everybody thinks of this team in terms of wins and losses; how many wins, how many are we going to win?" Huesman said. "Last year it was, how hard are we going to play? That was the expectation, to go out there and play hard; whether you win or lose, go out there and play hard, show something different.
"This year, I don't think that's good enough out there."
As the Mocs practice in preparation for their Sept. 4 season opener against Appalachian State, there's a different mood around the program, Chancellor Roger Brown said.
"There's no question that because of Coach Huesman's success and his players' success, the community is wanting more, and they'll be wanting more in terms of wins and losses," Brown said. "I think the thing that strikes me most is the difference in attitudes the players are bringing, attitudes that our supporters are bringing - that it's positive, that it's forward looking and very, very optimistic."
The Mocs went 4-4 in the SoCon last season and the league coaches and media seem to think they'll finish with a similar record this season. The media picked UTC to finish fourth and the coaches fifth.
Huesman said he doesn't know how many the Mocs will win, but he likes the high expectations.
"I'm glad they're excited, that's the whole deal," he said. "To get the city, our alums, the students excited about football, I mean that's what it's all about."