Tom Arth called 2017 "a learning experience" for the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football team.
The coach's returning players this year had much stronger words.
"I felt like we let the city down," senior receiver Bingo Morton said.
"We left a sour taste in Chattanooga's mouth," senior defensive end Isaiah Mack chipped in.
The 3-8 record in 2017 came after a four-year run in which the Mocs won 36 games, earned three consecutive Southern Conference championships and reached the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision playoffs three times. Their 1-4 record at Finley Stadium was particularly hard to digest, because despite losing five All-Americans from the season before, they still had some talent.
The problem was that not all of the talent bought in. Some players seemed to feel it was UTC's birthright to be in the playoffs. Others didn't take well to the new style of coaching, former players said recently.
In the team's bewildering 1-6 start, practices seemed upbeat and there didn't appear to be a drop-off from prior seasons under former head coach Russ Huesman, who left for Richmond after the 2016 season. But a four-game NCAA suspension for academics handed down to starting quarterback Alejandro Bennifield two days before the season opener and a six-game suspension for preseason All-America linebacker Dale Warren for an NCAA violation removed key leaders from action.
"It presented a number of different challenges," Arth said early in August about his debut season at the Division I level. "Things I've never dealt with that we were faced with, but I think overall looking back on it, I'm certainly a better coach having gone through that and having had those experiences. I think our team is a much stronger team because of those experiences, and we're in a better place because of the challenges we faced last year. Had we not faced those challenges, I don't know if we would have made the changes and adjustments we needed to.
"You never hope for a season like that, never want a season like that, but when it happens you have to make the most of it, and I think we have."
The roster has been flipped, with new players everywhere. Every position group has had a battle for playing time during the preseason, with no position safe from last year. Coming off the program's worst season in 10 years, that should be expected. It should be wanted.
The players seem to have embraced the challenges. They've also come to grips with the past.
"It was a huge disappointment more than anything," said Mack, a preseason first-team all-league selection. "We didn't finish how we wanted to finish, and we felt we let people down. I felt Chattanooga deserved way more than the way we played, and we had a whole lot more to show than we showed people.
"Coach Arth is doing a better job of keeping us more on our toes this preseason, keeping us sharper than before. He's giving us a taste of how good we can be than we were last year."
The buy-in has had to come from within. It appears it has, but that won't be known until the team gets hit with adversity - something that happened from the start of last season. Arth said the goal is to get the most out of the individual players as well as the team as a whole. If he and the coaching staff do that, the team - which is young all over the field - should take a step forward this season and become a legitimate contender in 2019.
But if his second team, as talented as any in the SoCon, figures things out this year, there's no telling where the Mocs could go. Maybe they can "make Chattanooga proud again," as Mack said.
"Hopefully the city is still behind us, which I think they are," said Morton, a second-team preseason all-league choice. "I think we can make it up to them this season."
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenley3.