Geep Wade isn’t yet officially a member of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football team’s coaching staff. But the former Mocs center and captain was in his new office Monday afternoon watching film of last season’s win over Wofford.
Due to a paperwork backlog, Wade’s hiring isn’t official – thus neither he nor Mocs coach Russ Huesman can comment on the hiring. Wade’s given name is Gideon Wade IV; his nickname is pronounced like “Jeep.”
The offensive coordinator, offensive line coach and recruiting coordinator at UT-Martin last season, Wade is expected to help coach the Mocs’ offensive line and tight ends and serve as the recruiting coordinator.
Tight ends coach Tony Coode, a former UTC teammate of Wade’s, is expected to move over to defense and help fill former defensive line coach Fred Tate’s spot.
Wade’s office on the fourth floor at McKenzie Arena is the one vacated by Tate, who left UTC last month for a job at Marshall – though his termination wasn’t official Monday, either. Wade played center for the Mocs from 1999-2001 and was picked by his teammates to be a team captain as a senior in 2001.
The following season, Wade served as an offensive line assistant on the UTC staff. After that, Wade coached at Mars Hill College in 2003, and stints at the University of Tennessee, Midwestern State and Western Carolina followed before he went to UT-Martin in 2006.
Just over a year ago, Marcus Satterfield left Jason Simpson’s staff at UT-Martin to become Huesman’s offensive coordinator. Now Wade has followed one of his best friends to Chattanooga.
In fact, at one point Monday afternoon Satterfield reached into a box of Wade’s belongings and, with a smile on his face, reclaimed a lamp that he said was his. Beside the lamp in the box was a framed photograph of Wade during his playing days at UTC. Satterfield put the photo up on Wade’s desk.
Wade is the fourth UTC alum on the Mocs’ coaching staff, joining Huesman, Coode and offensive line coach Russ Ehrenfeld.