If all he needs to keep him happy is warmer weather, new University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football coach Tom Arth sounds like he's going to like the Scenic City just fine.
Adroitly holding five television microphones as he discussed the opening day of spring practice at Scrappy Moore Field on Tuesday afternoon, Arth - who's called Ohio home for most of his life - flashed an easy grin and said of the 82-degree temperature: "I'm used to 20 degrees (in the spring) and six feet of snow pushed to the side of the field. I'll take this every day."
Weather aside, it certainly sounded as if the returning Mocs are swiftly taking to Arth and his staff, especially senior quarterback Alejandro Bennifield, who helped lead UTC to the second round of the FCS playoffs last season.
"Coach Arth's a great guy," Bennifield said. "Every time he comes into a room he brings a light and an energy that no one else can."
Having been a quarterback himself at the highest level of football with the NFL's Indianapolis Colts, Arth also brings experience and knowledge to that position that few coaches can match.
"Especially in the film room," Bennifield noted. "He can give me tips most coaches can't because he's been a quarterback."
Quite possibly because most NFL quarterbacks play a little different game than so many of their more spread-driven, option-loving college counterparts, the returning All-Southern Conference QB also expects there to be significant changes in the offense before the ball is snapped.
"More pro stuff," Bennifield explained. "More huddling up and under center."
Even then, he didn't seemed concerned about adjusting to a new playbook and coaching staff.
"It's just new terminology," he said. "Everybody in the nation runs the same plays. It's just different terminology."
Yet learning that technology on both sides of the ball and special teams is no worse than Job No. 2 for Arth, who spent the last four seasons as head coach of his alma mater, Division III member John Carroll, where he became a playoff regular while posting a 40-8 overall record.
"First, we want to establish a standard of excellence," he said more than once.
"Second, we want to leave (spring practice) with a great understanding of offense, defense and special teams schemes."
"Third, understand what it takes for us to be successful."
If cool and calm is a sign of quiet, unwavering confidence, Arth doesn't appear as if he doubts he'll have similar success at the FCS level to what he enjoyed in Division III ball, where his Blue Streaks famously ended Mount Union's record 112-game regular-season winning streak this past season.
"The buy-in (to our plan) has been almost immediate," said the 35-year-old Arth, who looked as if he was going for a stroll on the Riverwalk while dressed in Bermuda-length khaki shorts, two navy blue short-sleeved UTC coaching shirts, tennis shoes and ankle socks. "We're a lot further ahead than we thought we would be."
What's not as far along as he'd like - though he knew when he took the job it would be this way - is his distance from his wife and five children, who won't arrive until the end of the school year.
"I've been a little jumpy the last few days," said Arth, who spent last week in Ohio with his family while Chattanooga was enduring Ohio-like temperatures. "You're excited for practice, but I also know I'm not going to see my family for a month."
In far less than a month - April 8, to be precise - we'll all get to see at least a snippet of Arth's grand plan for excellence when UTC stages its spring game at noon that Saturday at Finley Stadium.
But no less than Bennifield also believes he already understands what kind of program his new coach wants to establish.
"Just score touchdowns and have fun," he said.
That's a recipe for success at all levels of football in any kind of weather, whether it's 82 degrees or 20 degrees with six-foot-high walls of snow rimming the field.
Contact Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@timesfreepress.com.