Russ Huesman will lose 13 players from the 2015 University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football team that won nine games and the program's third consecutive Southern Conference championship before falling in the Football Championship Subdivision round of 16 to top-ranked Jacksonville State in overtime.
So how will the 2016 version look?
The Times Free Press takes a position-by-position glance at the outlook for next season's team.
QUARTERBACK
Replacing the most decorated quarterback in the history of the program is, no doubt, a daunting task. Jacob Huesman, a three-time SoCon offensive player of the year, started 48 games in his career and accounted for 12,248 yards and 107 touchdowns. The next player in line is rising junior Alejandro Bennifield, who completed five of his eight passes in 2015 for 139 yards and two scores. Coach Huesman said during the season that "people don't realize how good of a quarterback Bennifield is going to be here."
He won't be the runner between the tackles that Jacob Huesman was, but he probably has a better arm. He will be backed up by Tyler Roberson, and the program currently has a commitment from three-star quarterback Zack Weatherly from Nashville's Christ Presbyterian Academy, who threw for 2,124 yards and 24 touchdowns while rushing for 333 yards and eight scores.
RUNNING BACK
A position of question entering the 2015 season will be a position of strength going into next year. Derrick Craine was a first-team all-conference selection after rushing for a school-record 1,251 yards and 13 touchdowns and catching a touchdown pass. Richardre Bagley is a change-of-pace back who had 531 yards of total offense and a score, while freshmen Kyle Nalls and Alex Trotter combined for 119 yards rushing this season.
WIDE RECEIVERS
UTC will return its top 10 pass catchers, each with an additional year of experience. C.J. Board led the team with 42 catches, while James Stovall had four touchdowns and came on strong once inserted into the starting lineup after an injury to Alphonso Stewart, who also returns after 13 catches and two scores.
Xavier Borishade is a deep threat who averaged a team-high 14.5 yards on 30 receptions, while Wil Young, Bingo Morton and Dejuan McQuarters did well as freshmen. The Mocs picked up commitments from brothers Thomas and Joseph Richard, the former a transfer from Missouri with three years of eligibility remaining.
TIGHT END
A season after Faysal Shafaat earned All-America honors for his pass-catching ability, the position group finished with only one catch in 2015. They return Steve Pickren and Malcolm Colvin, who basically became additional blockers on the offensive line.
Bailey Lenoir, the best pass-catcher of the trio, will be back for his sophomore season, while the team has received a commitment from Boyd-Buchanan product Jack Keebler, a versatile threat at the position.
OFFENSIVE LINE
Four starters return from a unit that blocked for 3,145 rushing yards and 28 touchdowns in 2015, and they were the foundation of an offense that averaged 415.4 yards per game. Corey Levin won his second consecutive Jacobs Blocking Trophy as the SoCon's best offensive lineman and was named an All-American by College Sports Madness on Thursday.
Hunter Townson, Jacob Revis and Josh Cardiello also return, and Branden Parker will get the first crack at replacing Synjen Herren, a first-team All-SoCon selection.
DEFENSIVE LINE
The line had 26 of the team's 34 sacks, led by end Keionta Davis, who set a school record with 13.5 sacks in 2015. Like Levin, Brand was named a CSM All-American on Thursday. Defensive end Toyvian Brand and tackle Josh Freeman - both second-team All-SoCon selections - are the team's losses at the position.
Vantrel McMillan shared time with Brand and had 6.5 tackles for loss, while an injury to Freeman, who started 47 games in his four-year career, caused the team to have to replace him sooner than expected.
Isaiah Mack was a freshman all-conference selection, while Taylor Reynolds started five games before an injury midway through the year. Justin King, who started his career at Tennessee as a wildcat quarterback and linebacker, made strides at DT while starting in place of Freeman at the end of the year.
LINEBACKERS
Nakevion Leslie returns for his senior season after a first-team All-SoCon season, which was his first at middle linebacker. The coaching staff expected big things out of him, and he responded and could be even better in 2016.
A.J. Hampton, who led the team in tackles, is leaving, with Dale Warren - who impacted special teams - second on the depth chart. T.J. Jenkins backs up Leslie and should figure into the rotation as well.
DEFENSIVE BACKS
The secondary took its lumps in 2015, giving up 18 touchdowns through the air. UTC allowed only 177.8 passing yards per game, though, which ranked 15th in the nation, and the backs had seven of the team's nine interceptions, three which were returned for touchdowns.
Sema'je Kendall is the lone loss at the position after a senior year in which he had two interceptions, one returned for a score. Tavon Lawson is his initial replacement. Dee Virgin was a first-team all-conference cornerback, while Cedric Nettles and Lucas Webb - who had two interception returns for scores - were all-conference first-team selections at safety.
Montrell Pardue returned a fumble for a touchdown in his only start at safety, while Tae Davis has shown glimpses of production in practice. C.J. Fritz and Trevor Wright alternated time at the corner opposite Virgin and experienced highs and lows.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Henrique Ribeiro was a first-team All-SoCon pick as a kicker, making 17 of his 21 field-goal attempts in 2015 while averaging 43.3 yards per punt. Bennifield provided a change of pace at punter, with a 37.5-yard average. Board earned second-team all-conference honors by averaging 13.8 yards on 13 returns with two exceeding 40 yards.
SCHEDULE
UTC opens the 2016 season with home games against NCAA Division II member Shorter University and Presbyterian College of the Big South Conference. There was a game at Austin Peay scheduled for Nov. 5, but there is a question as to whether the game will be played because the Governors bought their way out of the 2015 game and are in the process of hiring a new coach.
The Mocs travel to Football Bowl Subdivision member Alabama on Nov. 19. In conference games, the Mocs will host Mercer, Samford, Virginia Military Institute and Wofford and travel to The Citadel, East Tennessee State - which returns to SoCon play in 2016 - Furman and Western Carolina.
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him at twitter.com/ genehenleytfp.