UTC's Rusty Wright leery of spring football's potential effects on fall 2021 season

Staff photo by C.B. Schmelter / UTC football coach Rusty Wright smiles as he greets running back Jeffrey Wood II (6) after the Mocs' 24-10 victory over Eastern Illinois on Aug, 29, 2019, at Finley Stadium.
Staff photo by C.B. Schmelter / UTC football coach Rusty Wright smiles as he greets running back Jeffrey Wood II (6) after the Mocs' 24-10 victory over Eastern Illinois on Aug, 29, 2019, at Finley Stadium.

The feasibility of a spring semester season for the Football Championship Subdivision is still uncertain, and University of Tennessee at Chattanooga coach Rusty Wright - whose eagerness for the Mocs to play multiple games this fall was well advertised - is among those who wonders how it all would work.

The NCAA is taking real steps to attempt to figure that out.

According to multiple media reports, the sanctioning body is considering a proposal in which the FCS playoffs would run from mid-April to mid-May, with the field reduced from its normal 24 teams to an automatic berth for each of the 10 league champions plus six at-large selections. The Football Oversight Committee is expected to take a formal position during its next videoconference Thursday afternoon.

The Southern Conference recently announced it would postpone league play until the spring semester, as did the nine other FCS conferences due to concerns regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. Some teams within the SoCon, including UTC, are at least attempting to play some this fall, with the Mocs traveling to Football Bowl Subdivision member Western Kentucky on Oct. 24 for a game that was already scheduled, though not originally for that date.

The matchup, which will result in a $350,000 payday for the UTC athletic department, will kick off at 4 p.m. and be streamed live on ESPN3.

If the spring football season can be pulled off, the next question concerns what the fall 2021 season would look like - because FCS teams could play conference-only schedules in the spring ahead of the playoffs, which could equal 10 or more games even before the postseason begins in mid-April. The playoffs would presumably be followed by only a short break before preparation for the traditional fall season begins.

UTC is scheduled to play games in September 2021 at Southeastern Conference member Kentucky and at North Alabama - the Mocs were also scheduled to host the Lions of the Big South Conference this Sept. 19 before that game was called off - with another nonconference opponent yet to be announced, plus the eight-game SoCon schedule.

"I don't want to disrupt next fall if at any way possible, but we'll deal with that when they decide to tell us how we're going to do it," Wright said. "I'm not sure what it's going to look like, but it'll be interesting to see what happens if anybody plays in the spring.

"I haven't heard anything to make me feel warm and fuzzy about it, for sure."

There are six conferences playing league schedules in football this fall. UTC's lone opponent, Western Kentucky's Hilltoppers, are playing 11 games, with the Mocs their third of four opponents from outside Conference USA. Wright plans to use the time in practice leading up to the trip to Bowling Green as well as the game itself to evaluate players and position groups for the potential spring season. It's likely the spring roster won't be the same as the current roster, with players moving on due to graduation or for other reasons, so the practices will have value beyond getting ready for one game.

"You want to give this group an opportunity to see if this group can play as a team," said Wright, who led the Mocs to a 6-6 record in 2019, his first season as head coach at his alma mater after two stints as an assistant. "That was the one thing that hurt us a little bit last fall; it took a while for that group to jell and understand what we were trying to do.

"I'm trying to look out for the long-term aspect of this program and get it built a certain way. You can't do that if you're not (playing games), and that's a huge concern, but that was one of the reasons I wanted to try and do something this fall."

James recognized

UTC senior tight end Chris James was announced Wednesday as a STATS Perform FCS All-America second-team selection.

The 6-foot-3, 220-pounder, who transitioned from quarterback last season, totaled 257 receiving yards on 23 catches in 2019, with his seven touchdown receptions leading the team. He started 10 games at tight end and was a first-team All-SoCon selection.

It's his second such recognition this preseason - he was also a HERO Sports All-America third-team selection.

Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenley3.

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