Isaiah Harvey was determined to be part of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football program.
He needed an extra year to get there, but Harvey hasn’t wasted any time since — and now the steadily improving defensive tackle is in position to receive more playing time this fall.
Harvey initially signed with the Mocs in December 2022, but he needed to take a couple of additional classes before he could enroll at UTC. He spent 2023 training at his alma mater, Northside High School in Warner Robins, Georgia, where he had been the GHSA Region 1-AAAAAA defensive lineman of the year during his senior season with the Eagles.
“I just had to work out until I could come here,” Harvey said. “I obviously didn’t have the (workout) stuff I’ve got here back at home, so I usually would just go to the field, just kept working. They would let me work out with the weights and stuff like that.”
He joined the Mocs in January 2024, and after redshirting that fall, he played in 11 games last season while recording a sack and two tackles for loss among his 12 total stops. He’s in line for a bigger role this year as a pass-rushing specialist, where he can lean on the quickness he picked up playing soccer in high school.