Wednesday was a culmination of months of recruiting for University of Tennessee at Chattanooga head football coach Rusty Wright. Sixteen players made their decision to join the Mocs' program official, but Wright was also thinking about a much larger picture.
For the past couple of seasons Wright had done his best to prevent Power 5 programs from jumping into the direct messages of his players, trying to recruit kids not in the portal. Last year, it was a Southeastern Conference program specifically that reached out in an attempt to pry offensive lineman and potential NFL draft pick McClendon Curtis away, and defensive lineman Devonnsha Maxwell had received messages as well.
So far this season, it's happened to a number of kids with college eligibility that have heard from larger programs attempting to get playmakers to their rosters for the 2023 season.
(READ MORE: Meet the newest UTC football signees)
"Our profession is in a bad place, man," Wright said. "All I can do is the best I can do for them, and the best we can do for them walking these halls, making it as good as we can make it and all that. If there's a better opportunity for them, somewhere somehow like that, as long as they've done everything they should do, I'm not going to stop them."
The Mocs, though, have so far faced little exodus to the transfer portal, despite having multiple players that could probably find success at a FBS program. So far, only a pair of players -- tight end Keshawn Toney and receiver Tyler Walker -- have announced intentions to leave, although a few others could join in the next couple of weeks. But those leaving aren't the ones potentially being promised things should they hop in the portal, which is one of the issues Wright is referring to.
"People don't go about doing it the right way," Wright said. "This Name, Imagie and Likeness was supposed to be when you got on a campus and you created your own name, image and likeness. Now we're getting it before they ever get on campus, now in the high school ranks."
But it's becoming just the way of the recruiting world, which is by no means fair to the FCS world where there is little in the way of recruiting advantages.
To his credit, Wright and the coaching staff did a solid job in the first round of recruiting. Four players -- UCLA quarterback Chase Artopoeus, Houston offensive lineman Almarion Crim, Florida offensive lineman Griffin McDowell and Georgia Tech kicker Jude Kelley -- will be expected to come in and compete for starting roles immediately, as will Marist defensive back transfer Clay Fields III, Tennessee State receiver transfer Zaire Thornton and NCAA Division II All-American punter transfer Clayton Crile. Fields was a FCS Associated Press All-American in 2021, and incoming defensive lineman E.J. Thomas was a junior college All-American in 2022.
Two players come from area programs in Cleveland defensive back D.J. Adams and Baylor tight end Dalton Restelli.
One thing that's helped Wright has been his honesty. It's helped him keep a majority of players in the program and it's helped him in recruiting.
"We try to do what we can do here to make it as good as we can for them and educate them on things," Wright said. "One of the things that's helped us is having players leave here and not playing well. We show them the numbers and where guys go, and the bad part about it for us is the FBS guys in the portal compared to the FCS guys in the portal, because they're taking more FCS guys because they want them as a backup. It's better than a high school guy because he's a guy they've seen on film.
"The grass isn't always greener, so you're trying to sell them on that fact. It hadn't happened yet that I've had one get in and want to come back, and that's going to be a whole other issue. We're just going to be up front and honest with them and if it works, it works. If not, we'll find somebody else to be here to make it work."
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com.