New UTC football Rusty Wright speaks during his introductory news conference on campus Friday.
Rusty Wright's message to an enthusiastic welcoming crowd at the UC Room on the campus of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga was fuel to the flame.
Wright, a former UTC player and assistant coach, was officially introduced as the football program's next head coach Friday. He assumed the job vacated when Tom Arth accepted the head coaching position at Akron the Friday before.
Arth was 9-13 in two seasons, failing to make the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs either year. That's something Wright said will be unacceptable in coming seasons.
"The Southern Conference championship is going to go through Chattanooga, I can promise you that," Wright said to immediate applause. "That's just the way it's going to be from here on out, but it's going to take a lot of work."
Wright referred to the previous seven days as "nuts" and said the UTC position is more than a dream job.
"I'm home," Wright said to start his introductory news conference. "When I interviewed, I didn't talk about a five-year plan or a 10-year plan. I just don't go apply for jobs. The older I've gotten in this profession, the more I've been interested in being around good people and being in the place I want to be.
"It's not like I'm going to be hanging around here for two or three years, four years, and be gone. This is my home. My wife and I bought a house in East Brainerd in 2011, and no matter where we end up, that is my home, so it was very important to me to come back here."
UTC vice chancellor and athletic director Mark Wharton was similarly giddy. The school's administration was prepared for an extensive search, but after interviewing Wright and talking to those familiar with his time in Chattanooga, Wharton said the decision was easy.
"You always have 10 names in your right drawer when you start to hear rumors," Wharton said. "We had NFL coordinators, FBS assistant coaches to others all across the nation who were interested in it. Rusty earned it, it was exciting and I can't tell you how excited I am.
"We didn't go out planning on just looking at Rusty, but at this day and time Rusty is the right guy. He has a great plan, has a great mind and wait until you see the coordinators he's bringing. Everybody is going to be excited."
The players apparently are as well. Wharton called a few players when Arth resigned to let them know what was going on and has kept them updated on the search. Quarterback Nick Tiano, who prepped at Baylor School, was one of those and said the process couldn't have gone better from a player's perspective.
"He thought it was important to call us and let us know what was going on," Tiano said of Wharton. "We all appreciated it, because not many ADs would go to the trouble of doing that.
"He told me he was going to take care of us and to trust him and that we weren't going to miss a beat. He hired the right guy, and I couldn't be more excited. When I came back here (from Mississippi State), Coach Wright was a coach on Coach (Russ) Huesman's staff. I think he's awesome, the perfect guy for the job."
Wright said he hopes to fill his coaching staff over the next couple of weeks and then hit the recruiting trail running. The Mocs have one 2019 recruit signed, with much work to do to fill the class.
"We're going to hire guys who want to be here," Wright said. "I've done this for a little while, and I know guys out there. We're going to hire good football coaches, and on top of that we're going to hire good men who people in this community want to be around, and they are going to be good for this football program.
"Then we're going to bring in kids who want to play here and who want to win championships."
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6296. Follow him on Twitter @youngsports22.