Head coach Tom Arth and offensive coordinator Justin Rascati have a few different options in their first University of Tennessee at Chattanooga backfield.
There's a very good chance they'll use all of them.
During the 2016 season at Division III program John Carroll University, Arth had two talented running backs - Ro Golphin and Sam Kukura. Each had different talents, so instead of featuring one, he used both equally. The smaller of the two, Golphin (5-foot-8, 180) had six 100-yard rushing games, 1,111 rushing yards total on 164 carries and 11 touchdowns. Kukura (5-9, 200) had three 100-yard games, 821 rushing yards total on 165 carries and 14 scores. Both were named to the all-conference team.
At UTC, Arth has a pair of backs in seniors Richardre Bagley and Darrell Bridges, who, like Golphin and Kukura, have different skill sets.
Bridges, an offseason transfer who's from the Chattanooga area, rushed for 2,182 yards and 12 scores during his three seasons on the field for Presbyterian College. Bagley has 2,333 all-purpose yards in his UTC career entering his senior year. Among the Mocs back from last season, his 69 career catches lead the way - six more than Alphonso Stewart and 10 more than James Stovall, both senior wide receivers.
Both Bagley and Bridges will be used in Rascati's offense. Maybe they'll be lined up in the backfield; perhaps out wide.
But they'll both be used.
"I think you have to do whatever puts your team in the best position to be successful," Arth said. "Right now we have a group of running backs that we feel really good about, feel capable of getting carries for us and doing some different things in the pass game, the screen game. The more guys you get out there playing, the fresher you can keep people.
"The more you can use their skills and their abilities to put us in a position to be successful, the better we'll be."
Rascati specifically said the backs will be used in a committee system. Bridges had a 1,000-yard season in 2015 with the Blue Hose, when he was a first-team All-Big South selection after rushing for 71 percent of the team's total, but that won't be the case with the Mocs. Bagley rushed for 315 yards and four scores in two games last year starting in place of Derrick Craine, who was a senior - so Bagley and Bridges will both get their share of touches.
Alex Trotter, a junior who had a good spring and has been having a solid preseason, could get touches. So could freshman Chris Broadwater (6-0, 210), a strong, physical back of whom coaches think highly.
Each provides a different look on the field.
"You need two to three guys that can compete at a high level, and we think we've got that," Rascati said. "It's an extremely talented room. You have all different types of backs, which I think is a good deal and kind of adds a change of pace for us. I'm really excited about that group - (new running backs coach Chris) Hurd has done a fabulous job with them this camp, and they are really buying into what we're having them do.
"The way they work and compete every day, they bring it in meetings and have great attitudes, and I'm really excited about what they can do for us."
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenleytfp.