Immediately after former University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football coach Tom Arth departed for the same position at Akron last week, former players called for UTC administrators to bring in former coach Rusty Wright as the Mocs' new leader.
It appears they listened.
Wright was announced as UTC's new head coach Wednesday, replacing Arth, who was 9-13 in two seasons.
"I am extremely excited to announce Rusty Wright as the next head coach of Chattanooga Football," UTC vice chancellor and athletic director Mark Wharton said in a news release. "Once again, our program, University and community attracted an outstanding candidate pool.
"Rusty's experience and success at the FCS level made him a logical candidate for our job. It was his vision, passion and commitment to UTC that convinced us that he was the perfect fit for the long-term success of Chattanooga Football. I can't wait to get started working with him to bring championships back to Chattanooga."
Wright interviewed for the same job at UTC after Russ Huesman left for Richmond in late 2016, when Arth was hired.
Wright spent the past two seasons as inside linebackers coach, recruiting coordinator and special teams coordinator at Georgia State. A former UTC tight end, Wright had two coaching stints at his alma mater, from 1996 to 2002 in various roles and from 2013 to '16 as the linebackers coach and special teams coordinator.
During his most recent stint, the Mocs won 36 games, three Southern Conference championships and qualified for the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs on three occasions.
"I can't tell you how excited I am to come back to Chattanooga," Wright said in UTC's release. "It is my alma mater, it is my home and it is a place I care deeply about. I am very honored for the chance to lead our football program and I would like to thank Mark Wharton, (UTC chancellor) Dr. Steve Angle and everyone else involved for this opportunity.
"There is a solid foundation for success with some great student-athletes in our program. I want to build on that in a way that continues to instill pride in our student-athletes, our University, alumni and community. More importantly, I want to do it for the long haul."
After Wright's first stint at UTC, he spent time as a defensive coordinator at Butler; four years as an assistant at Miami (Ohio); a year as a defensive line coach at Gardner-Webb; a year as a linebackers coach at Furman; and two seasons helping build a new program as the defensive coordinator at Reinhardt, an NAIA member.
At least 20 players currently at UTC were on the roster in 2016, Wright's most recent season on staff. One of the former players, Nakevion Leslie - an All-America linebacker who was coached by Wright - said the decision to hire Wright was a good one.
"He treats all players like family," Leslie said by phone Wednesday. "He pushes you to your limits. When I was playing, he didn't take it easy on me and pushed me to be a better player, but he's a great guy. He still hits me up on major holidays; he's a very family-oriented guy that puts his players first, puts the team first. He takes care of everybody, works hard. He's going to push you, going to make you better. He made a lot of us better while we were there.
"We're excited for him. We feel he deserves this opportunity, deserves this chance. He's coached at a lot of different places and he deserves the opportunity to take the lead and run it how he wants to run it. Everybody is excited to see what he can do with the program in his hands."
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenley3.