UTC defensive coordinator Adam Braithwaite signals players as defensive line coach Marcus West looks on during the game against Austin Peay in September.
UTC offensive coordinator Jeff Durden talks to players during practice at Scrappy Moore Field.Adam BraithwaiteCollege: Played at Williams & Mary, '02Resume: Graduate assistant at West Virginia, assistant at West Liberty State, defensive coordinator at Hampden-Sydney College and Christopher Newport University, safeties coach at Michigan before joining the Mocs as safeties coach.Honors: The Mocs rank either first or second in the league in 10 defensive categories. They're No. 1 in the SoCon in scoring defense (18.5 ppg), total yards allowed (281.9), sacks (31), third down conversions allowed and red zone TDs allowed.Jeff DurdenCollege: Played at Georgetown (Ky), '88Resume: Offensive coordinator at James Madison University for nine seasons, helping win the 2004 FCS national championship and reaching the playoffs five times. Prior to that he was an assistant at VMI for four years, working as offensive coordinator the last two, and had the same title at Morehead State before that. He has also been an assistant at West Georgia, Georgetown (KY) and California (Pa.).Honors: The Mocs ran among the SoCon's top three offenses in six categories. They are No. 1 in scoring offense (35.1), time of possession and third in rushing (204.8 ypg).
Their personalities are as opposite as the sides of the line of scrimmage they coach. But what matters most is that University of Tennessee at Chattanooga second-year offensive and defensive coordinators are similar in the on-field production by the units they oversee.
Offensive coordinator Jeff Durden is always ready with a quick-witted jab at players to lighten up practice, while defensive coordinator Adam Braithwaite's on-field demeanor is strictly business.
Regardless of their differing approach, business has been very good on both sides of the ball as the Mocs reeled off nine straight wins over FCS opponents, including a program-best 7-0 league record to win their first outright Southern Conference title and first playoff berth in 30 years. UTC placed 22 players on the all-conference teams, including both the offensive Player of the Year (Jacob Huesman) and defensive Player of the Year (Davis Tull).
"For Adam, it's huge. He took it over, and it wasn't his defense. He'd been a coordinator for one year previous at another school, so it was a pretty tough adjustment his first year. But he did a great job then and he's really grown even more this year. I can walk in Adam's office about something I might have seen or want to do, and he's already been working on it. We're on the same page.
"Jeff has done this for a long, long time. It's his offense, things he's done for a long time. The transition for him is just kind of our guys getting the hang of it. For him it was just a matter of getting our guys rolling in his style. They're both really good at what they do."
After a year to implement their system and style with the team, both coordinators have produced noticeable improvements in several categories.
But such vast improvement didn't come easily this season. After the Mocs began the year with two losses, the entire staff began spending more hours in the office to fix the issues. And both coordinators put in even more time than usual, as noted by junior defensive tackle Josh Freeman, himself an admitted film room geek, who said, "I like to come in and watch film by myself sometimes, but it doesn't matter what time of day I come in, Coach (Braithwaite) is there. Early in the morning, he's there. Middle of the day, he's there. Late at night, he's still there."
UTC's offense ranks among the SoCon's top three in six categories. The Mocs are scoring about nine points more per game than last year and their total offense output is up 30 yards in Durden's second season. Most noticeable is the fact that the Mocs' first half scoring average is 10 points higher than last season.
"Speed kills. Everything we're designed to do is based on that, and then you add a little up-tempo to it," Durden said. "The kids worked really hard this spring and summer, I can't give them enough credit.
"This has been a defensive outfit and that's how it's built, but our kids are starting to realize that they can end the game with what we do too. We want to be out there, and not just take care of the football. We want to make plays. At the end of the day we want to take care of our defense. And the best formation in football is 'Diamond right, tight quarterback fall' (the Mocs' victory formation play to run out the clock). We want to be in that formation a few more times."
The Mocs rank first or second in 10 of the league's 11 defensive categories, including points allowed (18.5) and total offense allowed (281.9). That's about two fewer points than last year's league-leading defense gave up and almost 50 fewer yards of total offense.
"My philosophy coming in was pretty similar to what Coach Huesman likes to run," said Braithwaite, who worked as the Mocs safeties coach for one year before being promoted. "We're not a risk-oriented defense. We're fortunate to have a lot of good players here, so we want to play sound and have players in spots to make plays.
The biggest change from being a position coach is the organizational stuff. Making sure you have everything planned, from a walk-through, to meetings and practice plans to the plays we'll run. Make sure things are running smooth and efficiently. Any time it's your first year being a coordinator you don't know what to expect sometimes. There was a learning curve for all of us as a staff. This year there's a lot more comfort with each other as far as how things work."
Contact Stephen Hargis at shargis@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6293.