The first name to pop into Tom Arth's mind when he found out he needed to hire a new defensive coordinator was former teammate Tom Kaufman.
The new University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football coach went through the process of trying to find the right candidate - interviews, meetings, phone calls - but ultimately he followed his first instinct.
Kaufman was introduced as UTC's defensive coordinator Tuesday afternoon. He replaces Brandon Staley, who recently joined the NFL's Chicago Bears as outside linebackers coach.
Kaufman has 14 seasons in the college football ranks, most recently serving as the special teams coordinator and linebackers coach at Syracuse under Dino Babers. He spent five seasons at the Football Bowl Subdivision level, and he's also familiar with the Football Championship Subdivision level, having spent two seasons at Eastern Illinois - both of which ended in the playoffs.
He and Arth played together at John Carroll University, where Arth and Staley coached together until Arth got the UTC job.
"It's a real exciting day for me personally, but also for our football program," Arth said. "When it came down to it, we interviewed a lot of people, talked to a lot of great candidates - very smart, good football coaches.
"To me the most important thing was what makes the man the man? I played alongside him; I know what's inside of him; know what he's about. His competitiveness, toughness, the type of person he is, the example he's going to be for the players in our program. To me that's the most important part of the decision. He has incredible expertise in football, especially on the defensive side of the ball.
"What's really striking about Tom is his great intelligence, his incredible capacity. He has a really high ceiling for what he'll be able to accomplish and what he'll bring to our football program."
Kaufman said UTC's overall success played a role in his interest in the job, so much so that he reached out to Arth about the opening to express his interest. Once he had a chance to interview and spend some time with the staff, he knew he felt good about the potential opportunity.
"Coach Staley and his staff have done a great job of laying the foundation as far as a lot of schematic things," Kaufman said. "We'll certainly adopt those basic philosophies and go with those. The players here are definitely a good fit for what Coach Staley has brought schematically, and there are certainly things we'll add to the mix as we go along and get to know the players a little better and their strengths and weaknesses. But I think a solid foundation has been laid and we'll continue to roll with that."
The Mocs will begin their first spring practice under Arth on March 21.
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenleytfp.