Mocs set to host Cumberland
The final slot on the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football team's 2008 schedule is now in place. The Mocs will host Cumberland College on Sept. 6, UTC athletic director Rick Hart said Wednesday.
The NAIA Bulldogs, from Lebanon, Tenn., will receive $30,000 for the game, which is sandwiched between the Mocs' season opener at Oklahoma on Aug. 30 and their Sept. 13 game at Florida State.
"We're glad to have our schedule complete," Hart said. "We've got the type of schedule that we want. It's a properly balanced schedule, and it does the things we need it to do for our football program."
The Mocs originally had a verbal agreement with Belhaven for the Sept. 6 game, but Belhaven never signed the contract, which forced UTC to find a new team. Cumberland, which plays in the Mid-South Conference, was slated to open its season that weekend at Campbellsville (Ky.) University, but moved that game up a week in order to play UTC.
Mocs coach Rodney Allison said it was important to schedule the right kind of opponent in between UTC's games against the two bowl subdivision heavyweights.
"Adding Cumberland, I think, was a game we needed at that point," Allison said. "If we take care of business and do what we need to do, we should win the game. ... I didn't want a Jacksonville State-type team in between Oklahoma and Florida State."
Gaines completes staff
The Mocs' schedule wasn't the only thing that was completed Wednesday. Allison said he has hired former Tennessee cornerback Teddy Gaines as a defensive assistant coach, filling the final vacancy on UTC's coaching staff.
Gaines, like new tight ends coach Spencer Riley, was a member of the Volunteers' 1998 national championship team and was a seventh-round draft by the San Francisco 49ers in 2002. Gaines, from Kingsport, had been coaching high school football at his alma mater, Dobyns-Bennett. He is expected to start Monday, two days before UTC begins spring practice.
"I'm excited about Teddy because he comes from Dobyns-Bennett, he comes highly recommended from (Dobyns-Bennett coach) Graham Clark, he was on Tennessee's national championship team and he's a high school coach from Tennessee," Allison said. "That combination is very, very attractive to me. There's just a lot of positives with Teddy."
Seniors get their pro day
Ten former UTC football players participated in pro day Wednesday, working out for New York Giants scout Jeremiah Davis. The players did part of the workout in the McKenzie Arena weight room before heading out to D1 Sports' indoor facility to do their running because of the rain.
Cornerback Brandon Golder had the fastest time in the 40-yard dash (4.46 seconds) and the highest vertical lead (361/2 inches) and defensive lineman Charles Profit did the most reps benching 225 pounds (20).

