UTC quarterback Jacob Huesman warms up before the Mocs' 2015 season opener against Jacksonville State at Finley Stadium. Huesman was a senior that season, and now he's coming back to UTC as an assistant coach under Rusty Wright.Sources within the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga athletic department have confirmed to the Times Free Press the hiring of three assistant coaches for the football program, including former Mocs standout quarterback Jacob Huesman.
The sources spoke on condition of anonymity because no official announcement had been made yet.
Huesman, who will coach UTC tight ends, was most recently a graduate assistant at Georgia State under Shawn Elliott, whose staff the past two seasons included new Mocs head coach Rusty Wright.
Chris Malone, a former UTC assistant, is returning to the program as well and will coach the offensive line. Kenny Baker, who was on Bobby Lamb's staff at Mercer University, will coach the defensive line.
Huesman's UTC playing career was one of the most prolific in program history. The son of former Mocs coach Russ Huesman, Southern Conference coaches named him the league's offensive player of the year three straight seasons (2013-15). He holds multiple UTC career records, including total offensive yards (12,248), rushing yards (4,051), passing yards (8,197), rushing touchdowns (43), passing touchdowns (64) and total touchdowns (107), with the latter mark third all-time in the Southern Conference.
Russ Huesman coached the Mocs from 2009 to '16, with Malone on his staff in 2014 and '15 and coaching offensive lines that helped produce a pair of Football Championship Subdivision playoff berths. In Malone's final season in Chattanooga, the Mocs rushed for more than 3,000 yards and had two 1,000-yard rushers.
Malone had coached offensive linemen at Old Dominion since 2016, when the Monarchs led Conference USA in rushing and allowed the second-fewest sacks among the league's teams. He was part of a staff-wide shakeup after this past season as coach Bobby Wilder dismissed seven assistants.
Malone also had stints at Virginia State, James Madison, Massachusetts and Virginia Military Institute after a playing career at Virginia Tech in which he made 47 consecutive starts on the offensive line, earning All-Big East honors in 1995.
Baker brings five years of SoCon coaching experience to UTC as Mercer's defensive line coach. The Cartersville, Georgia, native was a four-year letterman and a three-year starter at Gardner-Webb University, where he was a team captain and named the team's defensive player of the year in 2007.
At Mercer he coached seven players to all-conference selections, and the Bears consistently ranked in the top 25 in the country in turnover margin during his tenure. Mercer was 21st in the FCS in red-zone defense this past season, while in 2017 the Bears led the SoCon in forcing turnovers.
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6296. Follow him on Twitter @youngsports22.