Russ Huesman is no longer in the bailout business.
His University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football players who are in summer school on the program's money -- 43 are scheduled for classes at some point this summer -- are there as a reward, to get ahead academically.
The Mocs who need summer school to stay eligible are on their own financially.
"I ain't in the bailing-out business anymore," the Mocs coach said. "I'm in the 'you do what you're supposed to do, and we're going to do everything possible to get you a degree' -- and that's our priority."
Huesman told his team in numerous meetings in the fall and spring that a philosophical change was taking place regarding summer school. He warned those players whose midterm grades weren't where they needed to be that they better be prepared to let "mom and dad know they need to start saving some money" to pay for summer school.
There's a level of risk involved in the change because of UTC's past Academic Progress Rate problems. The Mocs were banned from the postseason in 2009 because of poor historical APR performance but are eligible this fall and the 2009-10 academic year was very good, Huesman said.
Huesman is aware of the risks, but he said it's necessary to send a message to the academic underperformers. If you don't change the culture, he said, "you never get out of the cycle, you never teach a lesson."
Senior wide receiver Chris Pitchford said he liked the new approach.
"I've been on both sides of the fence," he said. "There's been some summers where I needed it in order to be eligible, and some where I came to get ahead. I feel like that's a good plan that he's got going on. It's beneficial to a lot of the guys because you won't fall behind."
The ultimate goal is for the players to use summer school -- UTC is able to pay for all the classes through donations to the program -- to earn enough credits so that they're graduating in the fall of their senior seasons, which will benefit both the players and UTC.
It's a proactive approach that's especially important for Mocs who don't redshirt, such as junior safety Jordan Tippit. He went to summer school after his freshman season, is taking classes this summer and will a year from now. An academic plan is in place, Tippit said, so that he'll need to take just four hours in the fall of 2011.
"I'd like to do a Matt Leinart thing and take ballroom dancing or something like that," he said, referring to the former Southern Cal quarterback who famously took the dancing class during his final season. "I want to have that spring semester free in case I have the opportunity to go to the (NFL)."
Huesman said he's following the summer system used by his former boss at William & Mary, Jimmye Laycock.
"Laycock always said, 'I'm taking care of the ones that are doing right,'" Huesman said. "And that's our philosophy. We're taking care of the ones that are doing it right."