It’s not that the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga’s offensive line was bad last season, but the Mocs averaging 3.4 yards per carry — the program’s lowest clip for rushing since 2017 — could suggest it wasn’t always good.
It also wasn’t as if the line’s chemistry was bad last year, but one thing seems certain with UTC’s 2025 schedule about to kick off: Based on preseason practices, it’s a case of so far, so good for the guys up front.
The most experienced position group for the offense — and perhaps on the team — in terms of returning talent still underwent a huge transformation in the offseason, with the graduation of Dave Monnot III (29 career starts), the retirement of Bryce Goodner (15 career starts), and the transfers of Reid Williams (34 career starts) to Football Bowl Subdivision member UNLV and Almarion Crim (18 career starts) to Football Championship Subdivision semifinalist South Dakota. Williams, a former Ringgold High School standout, was the 2024 Rimington Award winner for the FCS as its top center.
When the Mocs open by visiting FBS member Memphis at 4:30 p.m. Eastern on Saturday, there will be four entirely new starters on UTC’s offensive line, along with Tyrell Ragland, who started all 12 games at left guard but has moved to right guard. Yet the players said the camaraderie, which may have been missing at times last year, is already there.
“We wanted to go out there and be right a lot of the time,” said former Red Bank standout B.J. Ragland (no relation to Tyrell), who has moved from guard to fill the vacancy at center. “We weren’t on the same page all the time; we didn’t have as close of a bond as we needed to, but I feel like we just always wanted to fight to get to the end goal basically, and just win whatever we were doing.