With the second football signing day taking place Wednesday, the Times Free Press takes a look at three things you need to know about the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga program.
› Plenty already in: The Mocs usually aren’t as overly active during the early signing period, but that wasn’t the case this offseason with 16 players (high school and transfers) pledging to join the program for the 2023 season. The Chattanooga area was well-represented in the December period, with Cleveland all-state defensive back D.J. Adams and Baylor tight end Dalton Restelli signing paperwork to join the Mocs. Half of the class comes from transfers, with seven coming via the transfer portal and an eighth — All-American defensive lineman E.J. Thomas — coming from the junior-college ranks.
› Still more on the way: According to a UTC football recruiting account on Twitter, the Mocs will be adding up to seven new players Wednesday. Three of those are transfers already announced by the university, highlighted by former Tyner standout Jeremiah Baptiste, who is coming in from Miami of Ohio and projects to join the Moc secondary.
He joins Liberty offensive lineman Will Buchanan and Mississippi Valley State defensive end Chris Victor as mid-year signees already enrolled in school. A couple others — three-star offensive lineman Lukas Majer, who spent four months committed to Georgia Southern before backing out in December and flipping to UTC, and athlete Christian Harris, who, during his high school career, sported offers from Arkansas, Georgia State, Georgia Tech, Nebraska and South Carolina — have announced commitments on social media.
As always, UTC tries to keep some of its recruits under wraps in hopes of preventing other prospective schools from swooping in late and trying to flip players.
› New faces on staff: The Moc coaching staff has undergone a change, with three coaches leaving. Alum and tight ends coach Jacob Huesman, a three-time Southern Conference Offensive Player of the Year and 2015 All-American, recently left to take a position on his father (and former UTC coach) Russ Huesman’s staff at Richmond.
Another alum who was on the coaching staff, defensive backs coach Jordan Tippit, has stepped away from the industry and has been replaced by Korel Smith, who played at Florida Atlantic from 2016-21 and spent last season as a graduate assistant. The third coaching vacancy was running backs coach Anthony Davis, who took the same position at Western Michigan. He’s been replaced by DJ Knox, who played at Purdue from 2014-18 and was a graduate assistant with the Boilermakers last season.
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com.