The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga athletic department has hired Emily Blackman to oversee the Mocs' student-athlete support services. Athletic director Rick Hart said the addition of Blackman is part of UTC's effort to expand it's "academic focus."
Blackman, whose husband, Jay, is UTC's director of media relations, came over to the athletic department after serving as an academic advisor in UTC's Center for Advisement and Student Success.
One of her first tasks will be to hire someone to replace Kim Reece, the Mocs' director of academic services. Hart said Reece will be leaving at the end of the month.
Hart said the plan for the four-person academic support staff is to have one person who works primarily or exclusively with the football team, which he said makes up about a third of UTC's student-athlete population.
"Nothing about this should suggest that football's any more problematic than any other sport," Hart said, "but by virtue of the sheer numbers ... it just makes sense to have somebody dedicated to that endeavor."
The football has had its share of academic problems and was banned from the 2009 FCS playoffs for poor historical Academic Progress Rate scores.
Despite all the budget cuts that the athletic department has faced in the past 18 months, Hart said it was important to find a way to add to the Mocs' academic staff.
"We felt like this was an area we needed to invest in," he said.
No rush on opening
Mocs coach Russ Huesman said he is working on filling the remaining opening on his staff, but "that won't be done probably for three weeks."
Huesman said he didn't anticipate filling the position, which would likely go to a defensive assistant, until early February. As of Thursday afternoon, when the school shut down for the rest of the week due to the weather, UTC had still not officially hired assistant Geep Wade because all of the paperwork hadn't been completed and filed.