Staff photo by Matt Hamilton / UTC defensive back Rashun Freeman practices Aug. 4 at Scrappy Moore Field. Freeman, who starred in high school for Ooltewah, is in his sixth year of college football and eager for a strong finish to his time with the Mocs.When Rusty Wright took over the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football program after the 2018 season, he looked around and saw a number of what appeared to be unhappy players.
It appeared some of the fun had been knocked out of the program Wright helped guide to 36 wins in four seasons (2013-16) during his second stint as an assistant at his alma mater. In the two years after he left, the Mocs totaled nine wins. Players were unhappy about the state of affairs.
Defensive back Rashun Freeman, one of the players who had committed to UTC when Wright was still the Mocs’ linebackers coach under Russ Huesman, was one of those. Like Wright, the program he committed to wasn’t the program he’d experienced during his time.
“I’ve always been a winner in everything I do,” said Freeman, referred to by Wright as the “most important guy we have on that side of the ball.”
Freeman had been an all-state selection at Ooltewah, and the Owls won 30 games in his final three seasons (2013-15).