Rusty Wright was a four-year letterman for the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football program from 1992 to 1995, a span in which the Mocs were a combined 13-31.
“Sounds about right,” Wright, now in his sixth season as head coach at his alma mater, quipped Tuesday when told about his record as a player, noting that he had three head coaches in that time.
UTC’s football program has long had a “sleeping giant” feel to it, with its location providing a good geographical footprint in terms of proximity to multiple states for recruiting, and with the school’s athletic program as a whole proving success in the Southern Conference and beyond is possible. Basketball is the sport where that has been most noticeable, but golf and wrestling have also shown what can be done at UTC.
The football Mocs have always seemingly lagged behind in that regard — although Russ Huesman’s 2009-16 tenure did produce three SoCon titles, three trips to the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs and a pair of postseason wins — and it could be in part due to the instability not only in coaching, but in administration. There always seemed to be a revolving door, either at head coach for football or athletic director for UTC.
So while it may not be a substantial number at some schools, it matters at UTC that Wright — who had two stints as a Mocs assistant (1996-2002 and 2013-16), then was hired in late December 2018 to bring him “home” after two seasons on staff at Georgia State — and athletic director Mark Wharton have been together for six years. That matches Harold Wilkes and coach Buddy Nix (1984-89) for the longest pairing since UTC became an NCAA Division I program four decades ago.