Every college football coach should have Russ Huesman’s problems these days.
As he began his eighth spring practice running the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga program Monday afternoon at Scrappy Moore Field, Huesman said, “We can’t find room for all our seniors on posters and schedule cards and stuff because we’ve got so many good ones. But they’re going to make this a great year.”
According to the school’s website, there are 16 seniors in all, many of them already household names such as wideout C.J. Board, running back Derrick Craine, defensive end Keionta Davis, linebacker Nakevion Leslie, offensive lineman Corey Levin, kicker Henrique Ribeiro and defensive back Dee Virgin.
Huesman even has plucked a senior off the basketball team, Duke Ethridge, who has one final semester of eligibility as a tight end despite his hoops career being over.
UTC’s Alejandro Bennifield is brought down by Furman’s Carl Rider, left, and John Mackey at Finley Stadium on Saturday, October 10, 2015.
Alejandro Bennifield (15) works as a quarterback on the first day of spring practice at Scrappy Moore field.
Throw in 21 juniors and it’s hard to see how the Mocs won’t be picked to capture their third straight automatic playoff bid as Southern Conference champs.
But it’s one of those juniors rather than Huesman’s seniors that the school’s fans are most focusing on now that the coach’s son, Jacob, has run out of eligibility at quarterback and is preparing for this week’s pro day at UTC.
“Alejandro has great arm strength,” Coach Huesman said of redshirt junior QB Alejandro Bennifield, who is expected to quite ably fill the younger Huesman’s huge shoes.
“Plus, he’s a pretty good athlete. Obviously, he’s not going to run the ball like Jacob ran it, but he’s going to do a good job for us.”
In what was hopefully a tiny glimpse of how good a job he can do for the 2016 Mocs, Bennifield ran three times for a net 30 yards and threw a 39-yard TD pass to Jacob Huesman, of all people, in UTC’s gut-wrenching 41-35 overtime playoff loss at Jacksonville State last December.
“That was definitely a fun experience,” the left-handed Bennifield said before the start of his first practice as a starter. “I was able to make some big plays to help the team. I just tried to be ready.”
Having faced Bennifield in practice the last couple of seasons, junior defensive back Lucas Webb believes the quarterback is more than ready to run what figures to be a more pass-happy UTC offense.
“He’s got a cannon for an arm,” Webb said of the 2015 spring game MVP. “He can literally flick his wrist and the ball goes 50 yards down the field. And he can run; he’s fast, athletic.”
At no position on the football field may talent be more necessary than at quarterback, given the complexity and speed of most opposing defenses. But it’s also the position where intangibles such as work ethic, unselfishness and servant leadership are also crucial, and Russ Huesman believes Bennifield is as ready to lead in those areas as Jacob Huesman so spectacularly did.
“He’s a very unselfish kid,” said Huesman the coach. “There aren’t a lot of kids today willing to wait three years to get their chance. The fact that Alejandro did, that he worked so hard every year to get better and be ready if we needed him, says a lot for both him and his family. He’s always put the team first.”
If there’s a football lesson from a distant past to excite Mocs Nation, it might be found in big brother Tennessee’s 1998 national championship season.
Just as the Vols were breaking in an unheralded junior quarterback in Tee Martin after four years of Peyton Manning, UTC now turns to Bennifield after four years of Jacob Huesman. Much as that team was driven by defensive demons such as Al Wilson and Shaun Ellis, this one will no doubt turn to defenders Davis and Leslie for guidance and motivation.
And though it’s only March, Coach Huesman seemed unusually relaxed and happy Monday, as if he knows this team has the potential to be his best yet.
“It’s just great to get out here and get a look at the young guys,” he said. “See what the guys we’ve redshirted can do. See how they play when we’re not holding up cards to tell them what to do.”
No one will know exactly what this veteran team can do until it opens the season against Shorter at Finley Stadium on Thursday night, Sept. 1. But its new quarterback is sounding like a guy taking nothing for granted but taking everything in stride.
“I still have to earn my position,” Bennifield said. “I feel like I’m still second string. But I also know (the fans) loved Jacob and they love me. So my top two goals are to be a leader and have fun. I feel like it will be a smooth transition.”
If it’s a smooth enough transition, Coach Huesman and the UTC sports information department may have to find a way to fit 16 seniors and at least one junior quarterback onto an FCS national championship poster.
Contact Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@timesfreepress.com.