With preseason football practice starting for the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in the next couple of weeks, the Times Free Press is taking a daily positional look at the Mocs, beginning at quarterback:
Who’s back
The graduation of Nick Tiano, the former Baylor School standout who started 27 games in his three seasons with the Mocs after transferring from Mississippi State, left a major void. Tiano – who signed with the Houston Texans as a free agent in April after going undrafted but was recently released – finished his collegiate career in the top 10 in most major statistical categories for the Mocs and took all but a handful of snaps for the team last year. The lone scholarship quarterback who returns from last season is senior Drayton Arnold, who in 2019 threw 10 passes – all in a 45-0 loss at Tennessee in September – and completed five of them for 36 yards. At the moment he’s the leader in the clubhouse for the starting role, with a number of people around the program impressed by the leadership abilities of the 5-foot-11, 205-pounder.
Who’s new
UTC had already brought in Ty Gossett, a strong-armed quarterback who threw for more than 7,000 yards in high school and scored 19 touchdowns (14 passing, five rushing) in a prep school year in 2019, to compete for the starting job. Then they added to that with the return of Cole Copeland, a six-game starter in 2017 who was an All-Southern Conference freshman team pick that year. Copeland did not play the past two seasons, but he showed some dual-threat abilities as a Bradley Central High School star.