Mocs look to be released from APR hell

[chattanoogamocs]

It has been well documented the mess the the previous AD/Coach got the Mocs into with the APR...including the Mocs being one of the only schools to actually be banned from post-season for a year.

Well, if you thought Russ Huesman was a pretty decent coach, he and his staff (along with beefed up assistance from the Athletic Department) have done an even better job with academics.

In an article released in the Thursday edition of the Times-Free Press, it is reported that UTC's 2009-10 APR score (when made official by the NCAA this spring) is a very, very respectable 985.

This is enough to bring the 4-year grade to 925, which means the Mocs should get back their 4 hours (and 1 one day) of practice time each week...and all 6 scholarships they had lost.

This will allow them to sign a class of nearly 20 players for 2011.

I am not one to brag much about the Mocs on AGS, but since the Mocs APR trouble was talked about so much, I just had to crow a little bit about the hard work Chattanooga has put in to right this ship.

6 extra scholarships are a nice Christmas present for the Mocs' coaching staff.

http://timesfreepress.com/news/2010/dec/09/mocs-make-grade-utc-finally-is-free-of-apr/

[Tribe4SF]

Russ had good experience at W&M and Richmond to prepare him to lead an academic turnaround at UTC. This doesn't surprise me. Another reason he should be coach of the year.

[chattanoogamocs]

I completely agree.

When originally hired, one of the criteria that Chattanooga had was finding a coach who had coached/recruited at good academic schools...one that could find the balance between being good athletes and good students. So far Russ has passed on both counts with flying colors and he did it all without cutting any corners.

[SpeedkingATL]

Huesman has done a great job at UTC. Nice to see the UTC football team rejoin the SoCon and FCS. Think Russ would like to live in Cullowhee for a couple of years???

[blueballs]

Chattanooga is coming hard folks. They've come a long way in a short time and are going to get better. When he gets a full allotment of schollies and full practice time watch out! Good times lie ahead for the Mocs as long as Heusman is there.

[chattanoogamocs]

Huesman has done a great job at UTC. Nice to see the UTC football team rejoin the SoCon and FCS. Think Russ would like to live in Cullowhee for a couple of years???

If Wagner gets ousted down the road, I wouldn't be surprised to see WCU to make a run at Chattanooga's OC, Marcus Satterfield (who coached at WCU for two seasons). He has said a number of times that he really enjoyed living in Cullowhee.

[Milktruck74]

I know several people asked Russ about the lack of "gimmick" plays this past season and he mentioned that He just didn't have the time to try to put those in the offense. I wonder if we are going to see some double passes, reverses, fake punts, ect next season?xeyebrowx

[chattanoogamocs]

BTW...I have heard so many people talking about this today in Chattanooga...you would think the Mocs had made the playoffs. As pointed out in the paper, Chattanooga has been in APR hot water ever since the first grades came out in 2005.

As an alum and former student-athlete, the APR problems with the football program have been an embarrassment. Nice to see the team get their necks out of the noose.

And finally, I respect Russ for sticking to "the plan"...he mentioned that while having the hours back next year will be great, they will still be short-handed for one more year as he plans to stick to red-shirting all freshman (unless they are legitimately able to contribute meaningfully right away).