It was barely a week ago when things felt different around the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football program.
The Mocs had just acquitted themselves nicely against the third-ranked team in the Football Championship Subdivision, losing 52-24 to Tarleton State on Sept. 20 in Stephenville, Texas, but showing some promise and even leading twice in the first quarter. Seventh-year head coach Rusty Wright used his postgame interview on the UTC radio broadcast to appeal to the team’s fan base.
“If you want something like that,” he said in reference to the Texans — whose 5-0 record this season includes a win over Football Bowl Subdivision member Army — and their talent budget, “you better open up your pocketbooks.”
As for what happened Saturday night at Finley Stadium, where the Mocs scored a touchdown on the first series of their Southern Conference opener against The Citadel but ultimately lost 28-10 to the Bulldogs, well, money for players from name, image and likeness deals or revenue sharing had nothing to do with the outcome. If anything, the advantage for The Citadel might be stability borne of its status as a military school, where football is far from the only consideration for prospective players and the NCAA transfer portal is less of a factor.
That certainly wasn’t the case in the most recent offseason for UTC, which returned almost no starters after 24 players from the 2024 roster entered the portal and the Mocs added 23 players from other schools.