Betty McCuiston wasn't in her office at McKenzie Arena on Wednesday morning, for good reason.
McCuiston drove to Hendersonville, Tenn., on national signing day to watch her grandson Troy Dye sign with the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football team.
"She came up and watched and was excited and crying," the 6-foot-3, 250-pound Dye said of McCuiston, who works in the arena box office. "I was glad she made it."
Dye is part of the Mocs' 20-man signing class that includes January enrollees Sean Stackhouse and Shaun Hill. Less than 24 hours earlier, the Mocs were expecting to sign 21 recruits, but Kentucky nabbed Alcoa High School defensive end Darrell Warren, who committed to UTC in December.
Mocs coach Russ Huesman was not happy about Kentucky's 11th-hour offer.
"How Kentucky recruits, I have no idea," he said. "They've got to try to win an SEC championship, and beating little Chattanooga for a player, whether that helps them win an SEC championship or not, I don't know.
"I would hope they would want to be beating Tennessee on some players, and Alabama on some players and Mississippi on some players. But they got us and that's fine."
Warren's loss leaves UTC with two defensive line signees: end Toyvian Brand from Tuscaloosa, Ala., and tackle Josh Freeman from Fairburn, Ga. Dye and McCallie's 6-4, 238-pound Jarrod Coleman were projected as tight ends for the Mocs, but both also were effective defensive ends in high school.
"One of those kids could be a defensive end. We don't know right now," Huesman said. "All we know is Troy Dye can play football, Jarrod Coleman can play football, and as long as they can play football they'll play somewhere, wherever it's best for them and us."
Huesman said his coaches began making calls Tuesday night and may try to sign a defensive lineman or two.
"If we feel good about one or two, we may do something here in the next couple of days," he said. "If not, we may wait."
If the UTC coaches don't sign anyone soon, they could wait and see if there is a transfer or two available this spring who suits the Mocs' needs. Huesman pointed out several times during his news conference Wednesday that good defensive linemen are hard to find.
The Mocs haven't had much luck with defensive ends of late. UTC returns both starters from last season, Chris Donald and Josh Williams, but neither will be able to participate in spring practice while recovering from offseason surgeries.
Both players are expected to be fully recovered well before preseason practice begins.
While Dye will have a family member working in McKenzie Arena and brothers Jarrod and B.J. Coleman will be playing together, Huesman will be coaching his son, Jacob.
Huesman said it's a special thing for him to sign his son, and he's also confident that the Mocs are getting a special player. Jacob, a quarterback, was Tennessee's Mr. Football Division II Back of the Year and led Baylor to the II-AA state championship game.
"The one thing I can say is, I don't care how many [Rivals.com] stars anybody got, he's one of our highest profile guys that we signed this year," Huesman said. "He loves this football program and he feels connected to it."
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