UTC offensive linemen Cole Strange (69), Malcolm White (56) and Noah Ramsey (67) lead the Mocs on the field before their 2018 season opener against Tennessee Tech at Finley Stadium. The offensive line’s experience should be a plus in Rusty Wright’s first year as head coach.
UTC offensive lineman Malcolm White, left, helps quarterback Nick Tiano up during the Mocs’ home game against Western Carolina last September.
UTC offensive line coach Chris Malone watches practice on March 19. Malone is in his second stint at UTC, having worked two seasons in the same position on Russ Huesman’s staff.Chris Malone is well aware his University of Tennessee at Chattanooga offensive line will be one of the most experienced in the Football Championship Subdivision next season.
At this point in the process, though, the veteran position coach and former Virginia Tech lineman isn’t overly impressed.
His criticism is not about the personnel, mind you, but the way they operate as a unit. As the Mocs hit the halfway point of their spring practice schedule, a group of offensive linemen who started a combined 53 games last season is getting a refresher course in the most basic of fundamentals.
“They are not great communicators right now,” said Malone, who worked on Russ Huesman’s UTC staff for two seasons (2014-15) and jumped at the chance to join new head coach Rusty Wright’s staff this past winter.
“They just don’t talk. Kids today in general just don’t want to talk. They just assume, and that’s bad in everything, not just football. Be on the same page and communicate. The effort is coming, but the technique and the communication is far off from what I want right now.”
Left tackle Malcolm White was a freshman on Huesman’s final UTC team in 2016, when Wright was an assistant working with linebackers and special teams, so he had an idea of what was going to be asked of him and his fellow linemen. The 6-foot-7, 315-pound White, who has made 35 starts going into his senior season, is certain they will get there.
“Everything is different for us,” he said. “We are still adjusting to that, but we are all behind Coach Wright and this staff. I was here the last time he was, so I’m especially excited because I know he and Coach Malone will get things right. This group likes to be pushed, so putting the effort out won’t be a problem.
“Our running concepts are different. Coach Malone is asking us to just go hard and give constant effort. We need to talk to one another. Most of us are back from last year, and we are really comfortable with each other in the room. It’s just when we get on the field, we have to find our voice and communicate.”
White is joined up front by right tackle Harrison Moon (6-5, 290), who will also be a senior, rising juniors Chris Barnes (6-3, 295) and Cole Strange (6-5, 290) as the guards and center Noah Ramsey (6-3, 295). Ramsey and Strange were All-Southern Conference second-team honorees last year.
With numerous holes to fill across the field, Wright is glad he has one settled group to lean on.
“Thankfully, this is one spot where we have some guys who have played a lot of football together,” he said. “We’ve got some good football players up front, and I really believe they have a chance to be a special group.”
Malone and Wright are steadfast in their goal of molding the Mocs into a successful running team, something they weren’t in 2018. UTC managed just 1,082 rushing yards last season with a paltry 3.3 yards per carry. The Mocs were held to fewer than 100 yards in five games, including a low of 21 against Wofford.
The Mocs also managed only 19 touchdowns in 36 trips inside the 20-yard line, a ratio Malone and Wright believe will improve with a better running game.
“I’m a run-the-ball-first guy and I want a plus-4-yard average, and when it goes well you’re getting 5,” Malone said. “I firmly believe if you can run the ball, it eats through your whole team. You may not be tough, but you feel you are.”
Malone admits he’s tough on his group, but he sees the potential. Reaching it won’t be easy, he said.
“I’m not bashing them,” he said. “It’s just that every coach that goes to a new place wants to put their touch on it. I’m not the warm-and-fuzzy type. Some run to it, some run from it. My whole thing is to keep it simple so they can play fast, have fun and be physical. I’m preaching technique and fundamentals, and if they keep working we’ll get there.”
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6296. Follow him on Twitter @youngsports22.