UTC’s Patrick Sutton (72) has become a fixture at center after beginning his Mocs career as a walk-on.When Patrick Sutton walks across the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga campus, he likely doesn’t inspire the thought “football player” from passersby the same way a Derrick Lott, Davis Tull or Keon Williams might.
But the redshirt junior center from Sevierville — perhaps generously listed at 6-foot-1, 275 pounds — is very much a football player. He is, in fact, the Mocs’ only offensive player who has started every game the past two seasons.
Sutton was interning in UTC’s sports information office in January when new offensive coordinator Jeff Durden was hired. As first impressions go, it may not have been the best ever.
“I was sitting at my desk and I stood up and shook his hand,” Sutton recalled after Monday morning’s practice at Scrappy Moore Field. “I said ‘Patrick Sutton,’ and he was like, ‘OK.’ I was like, ‘I started at center last year.’ He was like, ‘Oh, I thought you’d be a lot bigger than that.’
“I get that a lot; I’m used to it now.”