Mocs Will Finish Spring Football Practice Before Spring Even Starts

Wouldn’t it be great if we could skip winter and go right to spring.
Apparently the Mocs football team does it.
Even though the calendar says February, they’re nearly done with Spring football practice.

For the second straight year, the Mocs are doing spring practice in the wintertime.
They started February 5th this year.
Reporter: “Do you still call it spring ball?”
Said head coach Rusty Wright: “Oh yeah. Yeah that’s what it is?”
But can you get in a groove practicing in February?
Reporter:”Is it weird practicing football this early?”
Said tight end Jay Gibson:”I don’t think so. Maybe a little bit last year, but after we did it last year, I think we kind of are used to it this year. I think everybody’s kind of in a rhythm of it.”
There are advantages to going through spring drills so early.
Said offensive coordinator Joe Pizzo: “It definitely helps in recruiting because in May you have the transfer portal opening up again. So again it gave us time to evaluate what we had. Gives us an idea of what we need possibly out of the transfer portal. Then it gives you a head start because May is a big 2025 recruiting month for high school kids.”
Said Wright: “Leading into last year knowing we were going to play ten weeks straight during the fall season, I thought it was important for us to get back in the weight room as fast as we could.”
Said Gibson: “I like kind of getting it done early, then you get on spring break. When you come back, you’ve kind of got four months to where you are really hitting the weight room hard and kind of getting your body ready for the grind of the fall season.”
Mocs open with Tennessee this fall.
Now UTC will be done with spring ball before the Vols even start.
Said Gibson:”That is a little weird. I didn’t know that. (chuckles) I guess it is what it is.”
Of course it could be weirder.
Remember the Mocs played a game in February during the COVID spring season.
Gibson: “That game against Wofford might have been around February 20th that year. I think we started practicing like two weeks before. That was really weird because no one on our team was used to putting on the football pads in February then.”

Chattanooga will wrap up spring drills on March 8th.