The UTC football program will be eligible for the 2010 postseason according to the conditional relief from its Academic Progress Rate (APR) penalties recently granted by the NCAA.
UTC officials said, "UTC had one of its most successful semesters in the classroom during the fall and relief from another postseason ban is based on the team recording a 900 score for the entire 2009-10 academic year."
“We implemented an aggressive APR improvement plan that is working,” stated Director of Athletics Rick Hart. “Our football student-athletes did an excellent job in the fall semester and Coach Huesman and his staff are challenging them to continue that same comprehensive excellence in the spring.”
The Mocs were not eligible for the 2009 postseason based on past APR scores.
Officials said Russ Huesman was hired in December 2008 "and immediately changed the culture of Mocs football. The team went from 1-11 in 2008 to 6-5 in his first season in 2009, tying for the biggest turnaround in school history. UTC also tied a school record with eight student-athletes earning All-Southern Conference honors.
"As remarkable as the turnaround on the field was in 2009, the ground gained in the classroom was even bigger. A total of 36 Mocs made the Athletic Director’s Honor Roll for having a 3.0+ grade-point-average during the fall semester. Included in that group were 21 student-athletes who made the Dean’s List with a 3.2 g.p.a. A school-record 10 Mocs made the Academic All-SoCon team in 2009, more than double the previous high of four in the 2007 season.
"The Mocs are still subject to scholarship and practice time penalties based on their historical performance in the APR. However, UTC’s continuous improvement in the classroom will quickly make APR issues a thing of the past."