University of Tennessee at Chattanooga offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield and the Mocs’ newest assistant coach, Geep Wade, are back together again — for the third time.
Wade, a former UTC center, left his job as the offensive coordinator at UT-Martin earlier this month to join coach Russ Huesman’s staff. Wade will work with Russ Ehrenfeld coaching the offensive line. Wade will coach tackles and tight ends and may also be the recruiting coordinator, though Huesman said that hadn’t been decided yet.
“You can win here and everybody knows that, and that’s part of the reason I’m back,” said Wade, who was a team captain as a senior in 2001. “This place, in my opinion, is one of the best FCS jobs in America. … Seeing what the city has to offer and Coach Huesman, it’s a no-brainer.”
Satterfield and Wade met when Satterfield was a young assistant offensive line coach during his first stint at UTC from 1999 to 2001. They later were on the same staff at UT-Martin. Wade is the fourth UTC graduate on the staff, joining Huesman, Ehrenfeld and Tony Coode.
“I didn’t know (Wade) great — just met him a couple of times through Satt — but he’s a UTC guy and I think it’s a great hire for us,” Huesman said.
Huesman said Coode, who was coaching tight ends, will move over to defense, possibly to coach outside linebackers. There remains one vacancy on the staff, and Huesman said that will go to a defensive line coach.
Renovation progressing
Scrappy Moore Field looks the same as it did at the end of football season, minus the blocking sleds and other contraptions that were parked on its artificial turf section.
Soon, athletic director Rick Hart hopes, Scrappy will be covered with earth-moving equipment as the Mocs’ practice facility undergoes a long-awaited major renovation courtesy of last year’s $500,000 donation to the program by Renee Haugerud and John Murphy.
Hart said the work will begin soon, but it is going to be a challenge to get everything completed by the end of spring practice, which starts Feb. 28. Some preliminary irrigation work has already begun, and the target date for the completion of the project is around spring break, which starts on March 8.
Finely Stadium already has been reserved for all 15 spring practices, just in case. Both Hart and coach Russ Huesman said it won’t be a big deal if UTC has to practice at Finley. What matters, they said, is having Scrappy ready to go next August.