Coming into this season, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football program’s returning wide receivers had a combined four catches as college players.
Needless to say, seventh-year head coach Rusty Wright and his staff had to find production in the NCAA transfer portal while also needing development from a young group that returned nothing but sophomores and juniors. They found three transfers, but two of those — T.J. McElmurray and Jamarii Robinson — didn’t play football in 2024, and McElmurray, while an intriguing prospect, is probably a year away from contributing as the former quarterback transitions to a new role.
Enter the old head of the group, junior Markell Quick, who had two years of experience coming from North Carolina Central, including a 2024 season in which he averaged more than 20 yards on his 26 catches, with five of those receptions for touchdowns. It also helped that Quick had entered the portal to find a place where he could further develop and grow as a player, and as evidenced by the Mocs losing four receivers to the Football Bowl Subdivision in the past two offseasons, UTC was a good spot for that.
The passing game played a part in the Mocs, who are regularly among the top teams in the Southern Conference, making it to the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs in 2023 and contending for an at-large berth before ultimately falling short last season.
“I think he’s got a hungriness to just be really good here,” receivers coach Ricky Spradling said. “I think he’s seen production we’ve had in the past, and he’s good enough to have that type of production. It’s just kind of getting the chemistry down with the quarterbacks, making sure the spacing and timing is right within the receiver group, but overall, I think part of it is he just wants to come in, and he’s hungry and he wants to play and he wants to be productive.”
Wright pointed out that due to a dedicated weight room and other factors, Quick has gained 15 pounds since he got on campus in June.
“You can tell he’s played in college football games,” Wright said. “Smart, smart guy, good football player, savvy. I think he’s got an opportunity to continue to get better here, but he’s a phenomenal young man, great parents, great get-up, and I just hope he keeps continuing to get better — and I think that’s the kind of guy he is.”
At N.C. Central — a member of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference and the Black college national champion for the 2022 season via a Celebration Bowl upset of a Jackson State team coached by Deion Sanders — communication was made by hand signals as opposed to the Mocs huddling in between every play. It’s a more methodical approach that Quick is learning, but he came to UTC for change, and he’s getting that.
Quick was the most consistent receiver for the Mocs during preseason work, and that production has shown up in games as he’s currently leading the team in receiving yards with 134 on nine catches, including a 33-yard touchdown reception in last week’s 45-17 loss at Tennessee Tech that dropped the Mocs to 0-2. He also has 72 yards on four kickoff returns.
If Quick had it his way, he’d have had 13 touchdowns on his 13 touches so far this season. Being perfect, though, is rarely possible in life — or even football, where there are are 11 people trying to tackle you every time you touch the ball.
That doesn’t mean he isn’t striving for that high standard.
“I’m just approaching every game with confidence,” Quick said. “Learning the playbook, coming out here and practicing, knowing what to do throughout the week. I know every time I touch the ball, it’s not going to be a touchdown, but I try to get a touchdown every time I touch the ball, make explosive plays.”
Despite the team’s slow start, Quick and the Mocs are still confident about what lies ahead because they say they see the potential of the group.
After back-to-back road losses to Tennessee Tech (a nationally ranked FCS team) and Memphis (an FBS member that has been among the top programs in its conference in recent years) their home opener comes this weekend against Stetson, which is 1-1 with both games — including a 31-21 home loss to Webber International — coming against NAIA competition. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. Saturday at Finley Stadium.
“The goals here are the same,” Quick said. “We want to go undefeated in the (SoCon) and make the playoffs. I just want to be a great leader and teammate. Aside from that, I have no personal goals.
“I’ve just been staying true to myself, knowing who I am, staying confident and just playing my game.”
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com.