University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football coach Rusty Wright has dismissed three players for what he called "violation of team rules."
Wright would not elaborate but added that all three players - rising senior outside linebacker Ian Hayes, redshirt freshman cornerback Jhaeden Smith and redshirt freshman tight end Logan Pitts - have been notified.
"Everybody on our team is clear on what the rules are," Wright said. "These three young men knew the rules, and they know they violated them. I can promise you it's never best for the team to lose three players from the roster, but there's also a standard that our players are held to and that we're going to live by, and we're not going to sacrifice doing things the right way for anybody.
"It should be understood that we can't go about our daily business making the wrong decision, and our guys know they're held to a higher standard."
Hayes, who was a two-time all-state star at Ridgeland High School and was a dean's list student last year, played in 11 games for the Mocs in each of the last two seasons. Last year he totaled 16 tackles and two for loss.
Smith, who played at East Hamilton, and Pitts, who played at Alabama's Hewitt-Trussville, were both coming off a redshirt season in which they did not play in a game. Smith was listed on UTC's honor roll last year, while Pitts was a three-star prospect coming out of high school.
Contact Stephen Hargis at shargis@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6293. Follow him on Twitter @StephenHargis