UTC athletic director Rick HartDALTON, Ga. — The UTC Mocs Club Coaches Caravan made a stop Tuesday night at The Dalton Depot, where a small group of University of Tennessee at Chattanooga supporters got to sit across the table from several coaches and athletic director Rick Hart.
UTC has had some outings in recent years, but this was the first year of a more organized tour.
“It just makes sense for us to try to get into some of these outlying areas where there are people who support us,” Hart said.
Football coach Russ Huesman, women’s basketball coach Wes Moore and volleyball coach Travis Filar, along with Hart, all spoke for about 10 minutes. It was a casual atmosphere inside the old train station, where just seven supporters showed up for the event on a rainy evening.
It was a small crowd, but Hart said he liked the intimacy of being able to talk directly to the fans, including super-fans Dean and Mary Jane Heavener, who recently received a Southern Conference Distinguished Service Award for their contributions to UTC, especially the women’s basketball program.
The ratio of three coaches and an athletic director for seven fans is one that few programs can match.
“I like your glass-is-half-full approach there,” Hart said.
UTC coaches speak in and around Chattanooga regularly, Huesman said, but it’s important that the Mocs message is delivered also to other parts of the South home to UTC alumni and fans. Hart also made the point that Dalton needs to be a UTC town.
The caravan began on May 16 in Cleveland, followed the next day with a lunchtime gathering in Nashville. An outing in Knoxville was scheduled for today but was canceled due to a lack of RSVPs. A trip to Atlanta was also canceled, but it will be made up at a later date.
“The ones we’ve gone on have been great,” Huesman said. “I’ve enjoyed it and enjoyed being around the people.”
William Kent, assistant director of the Mocs Club, said the caravan was a way to go to the fans, who come to UTC through the school year. Kent also said that more pre-planning and marketing should lead to greater turnouts in the future.
Contact John Frierson at jfrierson@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6268. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/mocsbeatCTFP.