Mocs more comfortable
With a year under coach Tom Arth behind them, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football players looked like a much better operation on the first day of practice Saturday.
The spring-semester workouts will feature a number of positional battles, but as opposed to the 2017 spring when everything was new to everybody, there were almost as many newcomers on the coaching staff as there were on the practice field.
But the coaching staff sees and feels different, more confident. And so do the players.
“It’s really night and day, if we’re honest,” Arth said. “We’re in a totally different place right now than we were last year, and that was through our winter program, the first day of spring, leading up to spring. We’ve established what our culture is, what our standard is, what our expectations are, and our players know that are they’re living it.
“I think it’s going to help us and you can see it in the competitive spirit that we have, and we’ve just got to keep working hard and keep fighting to improve.”
The defense, which returns most of its personnel from a 2017 season that ended in the Southern Conference’s best defense and 25th-best nationally, controlled portions of the live sessions Saturday, with the secondary and linebacker Zach Feaster registering interceptions. Cornerback C.J. Fritz said that comes from just having a year in the program and knowing what the expectations are day in and day out.
“We’ve already got it in our minds that we’re going to get better every day,” Fritz said. “We know what to expect from ourselves and everybody around us, and it’s just a matter of putting it all together and getting ready for the season. Right now we’re working on being in the right spot coverage-wise; we should already know what what we’re supposed to do, so we just have to communicate with each other and make sure we’re on the same page.”
Every position is “up for grabs,” as coaches say, but the Mocs’ battle at quarterback among junior Nick Tiano and sophomore Cole Copeland and sophomore junior college transfer Chris James will be the one that gets the most attention throughout the season.
Of the three, only Tiano has gone through a UTC spring practice, and he said Saturday he “couldn’t compare” last year’s with this one.
“Last year it was my first practice here, all of our first practice with the new staff,” Tiano said. “For me personally, this is the most comfortable and confident I’ve felt going into the spring. As a team we feel really good; it’s our second year and we’re all hungry after last year.
“We’re getting ready to get after it, and I think everybody’s real excited about it.”
The Mocs return for their second of 14 spring practices Monday at Scrappy Moore Field.
Aplin leaves for UNA
UTC wide receivers coach Ryan Aplin has left the program for an opportunity to be an offensive coordinator at North Alabama, a longtime Division II power that will be a transitioning Football Championship Subdivision program in 2018. The Lions will play as an independent in 2018 and join the Big South Conference the following season.
Aplin came to UTC from Alabama, where he served as receivers coach and recruiting coordinator. He was a two-time Sun Belt offensive player of the year at Arkansas State, playing under both Gus Malzahn and Hugh Freeze. He then spent a season at both Auburn and Ole Miss as a graduate assistant.
”Ryan did a fantastic job for us, coaching our receivers, recruiting, but most importantly building relationships with players. It wasn’t just limited to the receiver position, but players throughout our entire program,” Arth said. “We will certainly miss him and are very grateful for all his contributions to our program, and we wish him all the best.
“He’s ready for this opportunity to become an offensive coordinator, and I’m proud of him and happy for his family. He’s got a chance to live one of his dreams, and I feel a responsibility for that, for our players, for everybody associated with our program to help them in whatever way we can to have those types of opportunities.”
Aplin becomes the fifth coach to leave UTC this offseason for either a better title or a position at a higher program. Defensive coordinator Tom Kaufman, defensive line coach Brian Cochran and cornerbacks coach Jonathan Cooley took similar positions at Football Bowl Subdivision member Kent State. Cooley was replaced by Zac Etheridge, who after a week with the program took a position at Louisiana-Lafayette.
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenleytfp.