New to the Chattanooga area this spring, State Farm insurance agent J.R. Isham was looking for an intern to work in his office for a few weeks. He settled on Josh Cardiello, a University of Tennessee at Chattanooga offensive lineman who will be a redshirt senior this season.
“Very personable,” Isham said Wednesday when asked about his temporary hire. “Josh really connects with people. He’s got a mind for business.”
Then Isham was asked for any moments that stood out during his three weeks with the Mocs’ No. 72.
“Josh told me, ‘Nationwide (Insurance) has Peyton Manning,'” the agent recalled as he began to chuckle. “Then he said, ‘You all have me.'”
Cardiello, quarterback Alejandro Bennifield and their senior teammates have one more season to complete their already stunning mark on UTC football. Counting the year most of them sat out as true freshmen, 2013, the program has gone 36-16 since they first arrived on campus. That’s the second-best four-year run in school history, trailing only the 33-9-2 record from 1977 through 1980.