Cole Copeland heard University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football coach Rusty Wright's comments after the Mocs ended last season with a 24-21 home loss to The Citadel, including the postgame remark to media that going into 2022, the team needed "to find a quarterback."
There were plenty who questioned Wright's words; Copeland admitted recently he was "upset" by them.
After all, Copeland was going to be a senior in 2022, and last season he had quarterbacked the Mocs to a 6-3 record as a starter and within striking distance of the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs, somewhere the program hasn't been since 2016. The Mocs lost both games without Copeland behind center, the finale and the opener against Austin Peay.
But he had some struggles along the way, too.
Against opponents that finished the season with a winning record, Copeland threw just one touchdown pass, early in the Mocs' 28-23 loss at Kentucky. He finished the season with more interceptions (nine) than touchdown passes (six), although he also rushed for five scores.
UTC won four games in row from the middle of October to early November with Copeland directing the offense, but he was also behind center for most of a mistake-filled 10-6 loss at Mercer in the next-to-last game of the season. He was intercepted twice and lost a fumble on a day when possessions and points were at a premium.
Wright's remarks about needing a quarterback came a week later, when Drayton Arnold started in his final UTC game and had just two more completions, four, than interceptions.
"We've got to find somebody who can either run or push the ball downfield," Wright said that day. "We'll find a way to run the football, but we have to find a way to spread people out and make them defend the whole field."
Nine months have passed, and Copeland has had plenty of time to think about the past and the future.
"I didn't play up to my standards of what I want to play as well, so I've got to play better," Copeland said. "Coach Wright, he's just evaluating talent; that's his job. Obviously, it's the media's job to write about it, so if I want better things about me in the paper, I've got to play better."
Some of that could have been attributed to rust — after making the Southern Conference's All-Freshman lineup in 2017, Copeland was suspended for the 2018 season and then was out of school for more than a year — but regardless of who was taking the snaps, it was clear the Mocs needed to be better in 2022 at such an important position.
"People forget that," offensive coordinator Joe Pizzo said recently. "Cole hadn't played in a lot of years, so he caught a lot of heat last year, because he had been not doing anything athletically. And he wasn't a very experienced quarterback before then."
Wright and his staff didn't stand pat, bringing in Eastern Michigan transfer Preston Hutchinson to compete for the job, which has done something that Wright had hoped for all along: It brought the best out of Copeland during the Mocs' training camp, which ended Saturday afternoon. The 6-foot-3, 210-pound former Bradley Central High School standout has looked every bit like a player who has finally had the chance to have a normal offseason and preseason — when he returned to UTC in 2020, the coronavirus pandemic shook up everything, including the schedule — as the Mocs turn their attention to the Sept. 3 opener against Wofford at Finley Stadium.
No decision appears to be close as to who the starting quarterback will be for that Saturday night SoCon matchup, but what's clear is that Hutchinson has brought the best out of Copeland — and vice versa.
"The biggest thing is that he's had to compete," Wright said. "Competition is going to make us all better, and he's better than he was last year. He's got to continue to keep competing, keep fighting.
"That's the thing, he's got to handle some things a little better, but if he can make good decisions and get the ball where it's supposed to go and get it out on time and make it a catchable throw, he's got a chance. But I think the competition has made that whole room a little better."
Copeland is from a family of competitors and athletes. His uncle Chad played basketball at UTC, and his father Brian played quarterback at Tennessee Tech. His brother Bryce played basketball at Lee, and his sister Brooke recently completed her basketball career at Florida, so it's no surprise that everyone is seeing improvement from Copeland.
With the Mocs again picked as the favorites to win the SoCon title, he's determined to be ready if his number is called.
"I just want to be the best quarterback I can be and just not be the reason that we lose games," Copeland said. "I just want to control the game and be smart taking check-downs, go through progressions, and if it's not there, then not turn the ball over, because we've had too many turnovers in the past. I just have to be smart with the football and not be the reason to let the team down, and make plays when there's plays to be made.
"I've had time to work with these young receivers, so I'm excited about it. I'm looking forward to it, and it's been a journey (in college), to say the least. But I'm definitely looking forward to closing the chapter."
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenley3.