UTC defensive coordinator Adam Braithwaite signals players as defensive line coach Marcus West looks on during the game against Austin Peay in September.
UTC offensive coordinator Jeff Durden talks to players during practice at Scrappy Moore Field.Adam BraithwaiteCollege: Played at Williams & Mary, ’02Resume: Graduate assistant at West Virginia, assistant at West Liberty State, defensive coordinator at Hampden-Sydney College and Christopher Newport University, safeties coach at Michigan before joining the Mocs as safeties coach.Honors: The Mocs rank either first or second in the league in 10 defensive categories. They’re No. 1 in the SoCon in scoring defense (18.5 ppg), total yards allowed (281.9), sacks (31), third down conversions allowed and red zone TDs allowed.Jeff DurdenCollege: Played at Georgetown (Ky), ’88Resume: Offensive coordinator at James Madison University for nine seasons, helping win the 2004 FCS national championship and reaching the playoffs five times. Prior to that he was an assistant at VMI for four years, working as offensive coordinator the last two, and had the same title at Morehead State before that. He has also been an assistant at West Georgia, Georgetown (KY) and California (Pa.).Honors: The Mocs ran among the SoCon’s top three offenses in six categories. They are No. 1 in scoring offense (35.1), time of possession and third in rushing (204.8 ypg).
Their personalities are as opposite as the sides of the line of scrimmage they coach. But what matters most is that University of Tennessee at Chattanooga second-year offensive and defensive coordinators are similar in the on-field production by the units they oversee.
Offensive coordinator Jeff Durden is always ready with a quick-witted jab at players to lighten up practice, while defensive coordinator Adam Braithwaite’s on-field demeanor is strictly business.
Regardless of their differing approach, business has been very good on both sides of the ball as the Mocs reeled off nine straight wins over FCS opponents, including a program-best 7-0 league record to win their first outright Southern Conference title and first playoff berth in 30 years. UTC placed 22 players on the all-conference teams, including both the offensive Player of the Year (Jacob Huesman) and defensive Player of the Year (Davis Tull).
“For Adam, it’s huge. He took it over, and it wasn’t his defense. He’d been a coordinator for one year previous at another school, so it was a pretty tough adjustment his first year. But he did a great job then and he’s really grown even more this year. I can walk in Adam’s office about something I might have seen or want to do, and he’s already been working on it. We’re on the same page.