Tom Arth seemed a lot more relaxed Wednesday afternoon.
When the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga coach walked into the McKenzie Arena media room on the opening day of college football's first early signing period, his staff had secured 10 players for its 2018 signing class. They added three more before the end of the evening, including a mild surprise in 6-foot, 220-pound junior college running back Tyrell Price.
The last Mocs signee of the evening, Price finished with 989 rushing yards and led the nation in scoring with 25 total touchdowns in 2017 at East Mississippi Junior College, the National Junior College Athletic Association national champion best known as the school featured in the Netflix documentary series "Last Chance U."
The Mocs beat out Jacksonville State and Stephen F. Austin for his services, wrapping up what Arth called an "exciting day." This season was Arth's first as head coach, though he was with the Mocs for a busy recruiting period last winter after being hired in December 2016.
"I'm very pleased with the group of players we were able to get signed today," Arth said. "We were able to address a lot of needs. Offensively, from a playmaking standpoint, we have an opportunity to become a more explosive offense. We have some guys that can make some incredible plays with the ball in their hands. That's something you look for on offense, and we were able to meet those needs.
"From a defensive standpoint, we got two linebackers signed that we're real excited about."
Those two - Simon Miskelley and Nyvin Nelson - could be asked to help fill the void created by the exit of Tae Davis and Dale Warren, who were seniors this season.
But the Mocs had an obvious focus on offense in their recruiting, hoping to improve a unit that ranked 113th out of 123 Football Championship Subdivision programs in total offense and 100th in scoring. They signed a quarterback (Hutchinson junior college transfer Chris James); three running backs (Price, Isaiah Cobb and Josiah Futrel); two receivers (T.J. Horten and Lameric Tucker); a tight end (Logan Pitts); two offensive linemen (Dylan Cole and Mississippi State transfer Harrison Moon).
On the other side of the ball, they added defensive end Mychal Austin and defensive back Kohl Henke, plus the two aforementioned linebackers.
And they addressed needs without ignoring area talent - Tucker played at Bradley Central, Henke at Boyd-Buchanan and Cole at Dalton.
Of the players expected to sign with UTC at this point, only one - defensive end Jahmel Flowers - did not do so Wednesday, but he could come on board in February during the traditional signing period. Two days also remain in this signing period, though Arth said the plan is to break for the holidays, then come back in January with the idea of finishing the class out strong.
"We still do have some areas we're still recruiting. We have some scholarships available and some commitments that we're waiting on," he said. "We have a great plan to make sure we see the students we need to and we're able to get a jump on the plan for next year."
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenleytfp.