In a way, Rusty Wright feels like he’s about to coach a college football game against a family member.
The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (2-3, 1-0 Southern Conference) visits Mercer for a 4 p.m. kickoff Saturday in Macon, Georgia. The Bears (2-3, 1-1) are led by Bobby Lamb, one of the SoCon’s most successful coaches and a man who once opened his house to Wright.
Lamb was Furman’s head coach in 2010 when he hired Wright to coach linebackers for the Paladins. He would soon become a part of the Lamb family.
“I didn’t have anywhere else to stay, so he let me live in his basement,” Wright recalled with a smile. “My family was still in Ohio when I took that job in February, and I didn’t have a lot of time to look for a place of my own.
“So me, him, (Lamb’s wife) Allison and (children) Sallie and Taylor would have dinner every night. He took me in and treated me great, and I will forever be grateful for that. He gave me a job when I didn’t have a job. He’s just a good guy and those were good times.”