If the steady, heady rise of University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football can be measured in a single person, it might be redshirt senior linebacker Nakevion Leslie.
Heading into the winter of 2012, Leslie had options but no offers. Not a one.
“I thought about walking on somewhere,” said the Powder Springs, Ga., native. “I’ve always been a big Florida Gators fan.”
But walking on costs money. Sometimes lots of money. And it rarely leads to a scholarship, though it’s hard to imagine a player of Leslie’s talents – he’s a preseason FCS All-American – not eventually earning a free ride anywhere and everywhere that college football is played, including Florida.
UTC coach Russ Huesman was about to change all that, however. Watching Leslie play cornerback during a practice for a Cobb County, Ga., all-star game, Huesman was more than a little impressed with the player’s footwork.