Successful year to date
UTC sport-by-sport accomplishments this school year:Fall› Football: 9-4, tied for Southern Conference championship; lost in second round of the FCS playoffs› Volleyball: 26-6, 13-3 in SoCon; first regular-season title since 1998; lost in tournament championship match› Soccer: 4-12-3, 2-6-1 in SoCon under first-year coach Gavin McKinney; first time in five seasons with multiple conference wins› Cross country: Women’s team placed 12th in the region; Teghan Henderson placed 13th individuallyWinter› Men’s basketball: 24-5 record under first-year head coach Matt McCall; first in conference and owns nonleague wins over Dayton, Georgia and Illinois› Women’s basketball: 20-7 and currently in first place in the SoCon› Wrestling: 12-4 record overall heading into SoCon tournament action; beat No. 19 Virginia
When he was hired last April, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men's basketball coach Matt McCall spoke highly of athletic director David Blackburn's vision.
That vision has been evident in the athletic department's results.
The two-time Southern Conference winners of the Learfield Sports Director's Cup are off to what could end up being the best year overall in the history of the school.
"This year we are trending toward the same thing as the last two," Blackburn said Saturday during halftime of the women's basketball game against Mercer. "Who knows? But we're headed that way."
The football and volleyball teams each claimed at least a share of the SoCon regular-season championship, with football falling in overtime to eventual national runner-up Jacksonville State in the second round of the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs and the volleyball team dropping a 3-1 decision to Furman in the conference tournament final.
In its last regular-season match, the wrestling team defeated then 19th-ranked Virginia. The mat Mocs also shared the SoCon regular-season title.
Both basketball teams are leading their conference races. While the UTC men need one win in their final two games to secure the league's top seed for next week's conference tournament, the women need to beat East Tennessee State and hope Mercer falls in one of its final two games, as a tiebreaker would favor the Bears.
Of the total number of wins for the football and basketball programs, only Baylor with 57 and Michigan State with 54 in NCAA Division I have more combined wins this school year than UTC's 53, which is tied with Oklahoma. The 53 are more than any Southeastern Conference school.
UTC athletes' cumulative grade point average of 3.113 in the fall semester was the highest in school history, with a school-record 157 Mocs making the dean's list and 189 on the athletic director's honor roll. Over half of all Mocs were on the dean's list, and 65 percent made the honor roll with at least a 3.0 GPA.
Eleven of the 14 UTC varsity programs had a perfect Academic Progress Rate.
All of that has equaled a very happy Blackburn, who continually is seen around McKenzie Arena during basketball games smiling and shaking hands. Life is good for the athletic director in his third full season with the school.
"Make no mistake about it. I love to win," Blackburn said Saturday. "I think it transcends how you treat people, but also what the scoreboard looks like. We want to compete and win, and so far we've been doing well."
An exception in recent seasons has been the soccer program, but under first-year head coach Gavin McKinney the 2015 Mocs won four matches, including two in conference play. The two SoCon victories equaled the total of the previous four seasons, and Blackburn feels really good about where that program is headed, saying McKinney is "about to transform them in a year or two into the league leader."
The hirings of coaches Jim Foster (78-15 in three women's basketball seasons), Will Wade (40-25 in two men's basketball seasons), McCall (24-5 in his first season) and McKinney have all come under Blackburn's watch. Wade left after two seasons and 40 wins to become the new head coach at Virginia Commonwealth, and the 34-year-old McCall is putting together a resume that will lead to bigger offers in the future, but Blackburn is confident that if his coaches receive other opportunities, he'll be able to find capable replacements.
"I'm not afraid of losing them because they're good," Blackburn said. "I can replace them, but I want to have an attitude of excellence and confidence in my coaches."
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him at twitter.com/genehenleytfp.