University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football coach Russ Huesman brought C.J. Fritz into his office after the 2015 season and simply told the then-redshirt freshman that he “had to get better.”
Fritz took that to heart, and his improvement during the spring has been noticeable.
The former McCallie School standout has been one of the standouts of the spring for the Mocs. With junior Trevor Wright potentially moving to the dime position (sixth defensive back), the 5-foot-11, 175-pounder has received all the first-team repetitions as he has moved into the cornerback slot opposite Dee Virgin.
Huesman was really high on Fritz, singling him out positively to the entire team after Monday’s practice.
“We’ve got some guys that made really, really good progress,” Huesman said. “C.J. Fritz has gotten so good where we know he’s going to be a good player. He was one that we had to get really good.”
Fritz, who set a McCallie record in the 100-meter dash with a time of 10.59 seconds, had 20 tackles and two pass breakups in his first season on the field for the Mocs, earning Southern Conference all-freshman honors. His speed and length make him an intriguing prospect at the position, but he had inconsistent moments that frustrated the coaching staff at times. He split time with Wright last season, but Huesman said the cornerback spot will be Fritz’s to lose this year.
“I had to get better for the spring,” Fritz said. “Coach Huesman said he wanted me to be one he could ‘go to war’ with, and that helped motivate me. I wanted to improve my all-around game, be an instinct player, play hard, play with heart, improve my cover skills, my tackling skills – just make sure everything was right for the spring.”
This is his first spring of full competition as he was limited last year in his return from a torn ACL, which has also been a cause of his development. Last he spent the winter months rehabbing. This past winter was spent working with the wide receiving corps on his coverage skills, and he’s looking forward to being able to showcase that improvement.
“I’m looking forward to the spring game (Saturday) to see how much I’ve improved overall,” he said.
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him at twitter.com/genehenleytfp.