Harrison Moon was looking for a new football home after two seasons of primarily playing special teams at Mississippi State.
The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga needed more bodies to compete on an offensive line that struggled overall in 2017 despite gradually improving throughout the season.
The timing was ideal for a transfer.
Offensive lineman Harrison Moon, right, runs a drill with teammates during the UTC football team's first spring practice at Scrappy Moore Field on Saturday, Feb. 24, 2018, in Chattanooga, Tenn. Moon, a former Signal Mountain standout, has been working to earn a spot in the rotation for UTC's Mocs in the 2018 season. The 6-foot-5, 290-pounder chose not to attend the TaxSlayer Bowl with his Bulldogs teammates, instead choosing to head to Chattanooga, where he spent some time with UTC offensive line coach Nick Hennessey.
"He helped me learn most of the offense over winter break, so there were minimal hiccups," Moon said before Monday's practice. "I'm still making some mistakes from not being complete in the offense yet, but that's what practice is for, learning. It's definitely an ideal situation: They needed an offensive lineman, and I just wanted to play."
Moon said the zone blocking concepts UTC uses are similar to what he practiced at Mississippi State, so that has helped some with the speed with which he's been able to start learning the offense. A season ago, nine different linemen started games for the Mocs, with only Josh Cardiello, left tackle Malcolm White and right tackle Taylor Helton starting all 11. Six players started games at the two guard positions, so the team has a lot of experience returning there. Only Cardiello, Alex Hooper and Branden Parker graduated.
So Moon will have help - and time - trying to figure out what the team's trying to do.
"We teach our blocking a little different from the previous staff," Hennessey said. "Our zone stuff is downhill. A lot of teams go lateral with the zone and just being used to firing off the football is a little new to them, so there's a little muscle memory and pressing through contact.
"Playing the offensive line, it's not natural to go through people, and that's what we're asking them to do, so we're asking them to fight human instinct, and it takes a little time to get them to understand that it's OK that if once you feel contact, you keep going - that's what blocking is. We don't like to cover guys up - we like to move them - so it is a little bit different philosophically. Both work, obviously, so we've been getting better at doing that as we've gone forward."
Since arriving on campus, Moon has been talking with the offensive linemen and trying to build a bond, while also realizing that his unit is one that could be harboring a collective chip on its shoulder as having to absorb some of the blame for a team ranked 113th out of 123 Football Championship Subdivision programs in total offense.
"I hope so," UTC head coach Tom Arth said when asked if he thought the offensive line had a chip. "I know I would if I played offensive line here, if I played any position here. I'd find anything to drive me, motivate me and put that all on myself, so I hope that's the case."
Arth called Moon a "great addition" who should help on the field as well as in leadership.
"Within our program that's been important to us," Arth said. "Unlike everybody else, he's learning things for the first time, so he's not playing as fast as he's capable of yet, but once he gets it all figured out I think he'll be a good player."
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenleytfp.