Although Jeremiah Wilson is quick to describe his deep University of Tennessee at Chattanooga defensive backfield as "hungry," he's not quite ready to let anybody fully eat yet.
"We just want a crumb," he said after Tuesday's practice. "We're not worried about the whole pie."
Eventually one of his players will get a whole pie, with a big play in a game such as an interception, a crucial pass breakup or a recovered fumble. But the Mocs' first-year secondary coach has trimmed the goals of his group to just doing the little things right.
Hence the crumb.
He likely has the deepest, most talented position group on the team. The Mocs return seniors C.J. Fritz and Kareem Orr to play cornerback, while Jerrell Lawson and Brandon Dowdell are back after All-Southern Conference Freshmen seasons - Lawson as a strong safety and Dowdell as a kick returner. Sophomores Rashun Freeman and D.J. Jackson started games last season, while sophomore Jordan Jones redshirted after a solid freshman season in 2016.
Throw in junior Cameron Turner, who started his career at Nevada, and Andrew Brown, a graduate transfer from Florida International, and the Mocs have the potential to play "10 or 12" defensive backs, depending on specific personnel groupings and matchups.
If not more.
"Any time you increase the competition, you get better performance, and we've certainly done that," head coach Tom Arth said. "You have great experience, leaders and vocal guys that practice hard and play hard. That group has a really good culture; football is really important to that group, and I think it's been really helpful."
Wilson praised the recruiting done before his arrival, which goes back to former Mocs assistant coaches B.J. Hogan and Rod West even prior to Arth's arrival in 2016, and on to Jonathan Cooley, who preceded Wilson. Because of the amount of talent, it's been the newest secondary coach's job to keep the guys, which he usually does at practices, yelling things like "I've got the bag for you!" when one of them makes a big play.
"We have a mix of guys that are very competitive and have fun going out there and working," Wilson said. "The time put in during the spring and the summer is a testament for the love of perfecting their craft. We've made it a goal to become obsessed with our craft, being students of the game, and they've done a good job of buying into that. What you see out there is the result of it. Iron sharpens iron, and it's come together and formed a culture of competitiveness, but also one that competes against each other and loves each other after."
Wilson has no set number of players to go with during games. The Mocs' defense has many variables, from different coverage packages to different pressure packages, that may fit some players' skill sets more than others.
"That's why you recruit length on the back end and speed on the back end," Wilson said. "You also recruit guys that no matter what they look like on the outside, they can guard man to man; maybe they're a zone guy; maybe they're really physical against the run. They did a great job of recruiting that way here, and it's why I'm real excited about our room.
"It could be a different guy that helps, and we don't care who that is. We just want a crumb; we don't want the whole pie."
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenley3.