When he was 4 years old, Giovanni Reviere really didn't want to play football.
So during his first practice in the River City Football League, Reviere said he had to go to the bathroom but sprinted underneath the bleachers at Dalewood Middle School, attempting to hide before a coach found him and told the young player "we're going to get you tough today."
"I was a little scared of contact at first," Reviere said. "But once I got hit a few times, I got back up and realized I can take hits or I can deliver them, either way."
He has done a lot more in the way of delivering them.
His path took him to McCallie, where he was a Mr. Football semifinalist in TSSAA Division II-AA as a senior. That led to an opportunity to play at Purdue, where he started all 13 games as a redshirt freshman defensive lineman in 2018 for the Boilermakers. But two years later, he transferred to the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, where he's now in a rotating group of players on the defensive line.
Through two games this season for the Mocs (1-1), the 6-foot-5, 264-pounder has three tackles. He had a sack in the spring season this year, but to go from starting in the Big Ten to being a rotational piece at the Football Championship Subdivision level is a transition that a lot of players wouldn't be able to stomach. UTC gets a lot of transfers from higher levels, but not all of them stay as the realization sets in that there isn't as much of a gap between mid-level Power Five, Group of Five and FCS programs as they once believed.
But that wasn't Reviere, who is part of a unit that includes junior Devonnsha Maxwell, a two-time All-Southern Conference first-team selection who received Freshman All-America recognition in 2018.
"I've always been an action guy, not a words guy," he said. "So when I was coming in and I saw guys like Devonnsha taking over and doing their thing, it was like, OK, I'll just wait my turn and just take what I can because it's not my team right now, you know? I'm new to everything, so I just want to get in where I fit in."
Part of that mentality comes from tutelage at McCallie under longtime coach Ralph Potter, whose message to Reviere was to "stay focused on the task and hand" rather than things outside of football. It's why UTC coach Rusty Wright hasn't had trouble infusing Reviere in with players such as Maxwell - a preseason FCS All-American who is already in the top four for career sacks at UTC - junior tackle Christian Smith, promising freshmen John Prince and Quay Wiggles, and sophomore Tavi McLean, who started at tackle in last week's shutout victory over North Alabama.
"It's hard for all of them," Wright said. "They all think they all should be starting and playing, but that's the thing. (Reviere) understands there's competition in that room, and if he's not as good as the guy in front of him, he's not going to play. The thing is, he has a role on this football team. He's played a lot already for us and he's going to continue throughout the year to play a lot for us and be a factor for us, and that's why we can't ever have enough guys.
"Giovanni has jumped in here, and you can't tell he hasn't been here for three or four years. He's one of us now, and that's just how he is: He comes in, he shows up every day and works. He's got better since he's been here, and I think he wants to be a part of something."
Reviere is typically on the field for 20-25 plays a game. That's about half as many as he averaged at Purdue as part of a team that had limited depth. This UTC team - on the defensive line and at other positions - isn't lacking there, so during Saturday's game at Southeastern Conference member Kentucky (2-0) and beyond, Reviere will be expected to play his role.
"It's a great opportunity," he said. "Everybody is able to stay fresh and you don't have to save yourself. You can just let it go once you're in, because you know you've got someone coming in the next three or four plays. Everyone is able to stay fresh and get after the quarterback."
Reviere has come a long way from that kid hiding under the bleachers.
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenley3.