Muhasibi Wakeel has emerged in huge way for Mocs

Mocs linebacker Muhasibi Wakeel looks to the sidelines.

When University of Tennessee at Chattanooga offensive lineman Chris Mayes is asked to explain the transformation of teammate Muhasibi Wakeel from his low-key off-the-field personality to his reckless-abandon on-field energy, a mischievous smile comes over his face.

To fully explain it, Mayes even needs to use sound effects.

"He's a pretty calm guy until the whistle blows, and then he's the Tasmanian Devil," Mayes says, before then shaking his whole body, growling and roaring to imitate the tirelessly aggressive cartoon character.

In his first season as a full-time starter, the redshirt senior linebacker leads the Mocs and ranks fourth in the Southern Conference with 82 tackles. He has 2.5 tackles for loss and one sack.

"I love that kid," UTC coach Russ Huesman said of Wakeel. "You feel for Muhasibi because he could have been a four-year starter, but we just had older guys ahead of him who were all-conference type players, too.

"Now he's getting to show people he can play, and I'm so happy for him that he's playing like an all-conference player, because I knew he had that ability. His best games are against the toughest people to defend."

Although Wakeel has gotten on the field in every game since his redshirt freshman season, he had just two career starts prior to this year, spending the first three seasons behind older, all-conference caliber players.

That became frustrating for Wakeel, who had been a starter all four years in high school and was in on an amazing 317 total tackles his last two seasons at Southwest DeKalb.

"Sometimes you feel like you've done all you can and you get down on yourself wondering what more can you do to get on the field," said Wakeel, who had 74 career tackles for UTC before this season. "I just had to be patient, wait my turn and, now that I've got it, try to make the most of it. At first I didn't know if I could compete at this level, just because I had been on the sideline for so long. So it's very satisfying to see that I can play here. I put a lot of work into it as well.

"A lot of it was learning from the older guys how to work in the film room, the weight room and out here on the practice field. They knew what they were doing so I tried to learn as much as I could from them while I could, until I got my chance to play. I appreciate it a lot more now, because sitting on the sideline was very frustrating."

In one of those starts last year he was named the league's defensive player of the week after making 17 tackles against The Citadel's triple-option offense.

"He's a smart kid. He studies the game, watches a lot of film and puts himself in the right spots," said Mocs linebackers coach Rusty Wright. "It's important to him to do well. He doesn't look like the kind of guy who gets real fired up, until it's game time and then he can flip that switch.

"He's worked hard at it, and that's why he's in the spot he is to be an all-conference type player."

Healys welcome son

UTC receivers coach Will Healy and his wife Emily welcomed their first child Wednesday evening. William Elliott, or "Eli," weighed 8 pounds, 1 ounce and is 21 inches long.

"They're both doing great and we're just so excited," Healy said. "We'd like to thank everybody for their thoughts, prayers and well wishes."

Contact Stephen Hargis at shargis@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6293.