Coordinator Brandon Staley and the other University of Tennessee at Chattanooga defensive coaches took their time when analyzing the defensive personnel for their new football team.
Now with the recruiting cycle all but over for this year, they feel they not only added to the team but diversified it.
The Mocs were able to hit an area of immediate need in the 30 days the new coaches had to recruit for the 2017 signing class, signing three linebackers and five defensive backs. They’ve added a tremendous amount of length to the defensive side of the ball, with the linebacker recruits – 6-foot-2, 215-pound Zach Feaster; 6-foot, 205-pound Jahsari Patterson; and 6-5, 195-pound C.J. Winston – averaging 6-2 and the defensive backs an average height of six feet.
The new UTC coaches preach versatility, and Staley’s previous defenses have demonstrated that. In his three seasons as the coordinator at John Carroll, his teams ran a 4-3, a 4-2-5 and a 3-4, which is what the Mocs could be poised to run this season. He said he likens his defense to the New England Patriots in how he expects players to not be “specialists” on the field.
“We want to add as much value as possible in a lot of different roles, so when we recruit a guy we don’t really recruit them to do just one thing,” Staley said Wednesday. “The hallmark of our defenses where we’ve been is versatility, and this defensive class is reflective of that.”
Staley – the 2016 FootballScoop Division III coordinator of the year – expects the signees to join returning players such as all-conference safety Lucas Webb, defensive tackles Taylor Reynolds and Isaiah Mack and cornerbacks Trevor Wright and C.J. Fritz to keep the Mocs able to defend the length and breadth of the field despite a different look than in recent years.
“Oftentimes in offensive football you hear about defending the whole field,” Staley said. “The way you cut the field is with length on defense. They talk about defending 53 yards (side to side), but you don’t have to if you’ve got big people on the field. ‘Big people’ doesn’t mean heavy or tall, it means long, and all the positions we’ve recruited you’re going to see a lot of range. It’s been a big characteristic of where we’ve been before, and we have it on this team currently.
“One of the things we did when we got here was take our time. We studied our roster, studied who we have – and we have a great football team – then studied the current commitments; then we went out and decided who do we need to target. Being thorough in that process allowed us to go get these types of players, because we knew exactly what we needed.”
Smith, UTC split
The UTC coaching staff and defensive tackle Christian Smith, who recently committed to the program but didn’t sign on national signing day, have mutually decided to part ways.
Smith, who had selected the Mocs over Football Bowl Subdivision members Illinois, Appalachian State, Georgia State and Troy, was a two-star prospect ranked as the No. 52 player in the state of Alabama. He had 66 tackles, 18 for loss, three sacks and 16 hurries in 2016, earning second-team all-state honors in Class 7A.
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenleytfp.