University of Tennessee at Chattanooga head football coach Tom Arth announced the final additions to the Mocs 2018 Signing Class today. UTC added 11 signees in the spring, to go with 13 from December for, what is on paper, one of the best classes in school history.
“This is an incredibly exciting day for us,” stated Arth. “As exciting as it is, it also brings great responsibility. There are 24 student-athletes that decided to commit to the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.
Those individual student-athletes and their families are counting on us to help them become the best people, students and football players they can be. That’s a responsibility we don’t take lightly.
“It’s an incredible honor to have the responsibility to help develop all of our student-athletes. We are so proud of this group that is committed today and it’s shaping up to be one of the finest classes in the history of our program.”
This class has a school-record six three-star players according to various recruiting services. The previous high for UTC was three in both 2014 and 2016. There are 16 all-state performers in the group, beating the previous high of 12 set in 2014. Also included in the class are six state champions, another school record for the Mocs.
Arth and his staff had a balanced approach to recruiting, signing 11 players on offense, 11 on defense and two specialists. There are nine from Tennessee and Georgia, three from Alabama and one each from Florida, Mississippi and Texas. The nine from the Volunteer state equal the most in one class over the last 10 years. The Mocs also kept it local, signing six from the Chattanooga area. This equals the most from the area since also inking six in 2010.
Starting off are three who are already on campus. Junior Tyrell Price (6-0, 220) led the nation with 24 rushing TDs, while winning a NJCAA National Championship Team at East Mississippi Community College. Sophomore QB Chris James (6-3, 215) originally signed with Valdosta State out of high school, but spent last season at Hutchinson (Kan.) Community College. Sophomore Harrison Moon (6-5, 290) is a Chattanooga (Signal Mountain) native who spent two seasons at Mississippi State before transferring to UTC.
All totaled, the Mocs signed 11 newcomers with at least a two-star rating, the second-most in one class on record. In addition to Moon’s during his prep days, defensive linemen Mychal Austin (6-2, 250) and Josh Walker (6-1, 305), defensive back Kohle Henke (6-2, 195), tight ends Logan Pitts (6-2, 210) and wide receiver Genuine Potts (6-3, 200) all had a three-star rating.
Others with two-stars include running back Isaiah Cobb (6-0, 200), defensive lineman Tavi McLean (6-3, 255), linebacker Nyvin Nelson (6-0, 220), defensive back CaMiron Smith (5-9, 175) and wide receiver Lameric Tucker (5-11, 170).
The two specialists were among the best in the state of Tennessee. Gabe Boring is the Tennessee Mr. Football Kicker of the Year from Bledsoe County High School in Pikeville, while Thomas Burks was a semifinalist for the honor at Blackman High School in Murfreesboro.
For the fifth year in a row, at least 10 members of the class had FBS offers before choosing the Mocs. Also, for the 10th year in a row, at least eight student-athletes earned academic honors to go along with their impressive athletic credentials. The 10 with academic honors in this class tie a program record.
There are six state champions headed to Chattanooga, the most in a single year. These include Austin, Cobb, Moon, Nelson, Smith and wide receiver T.J. Horton (6-3, 175). Smith won two state championships in football and one each in basketball and track at Trinity Christian in Cedar Hill, Texas.
The rest of this talented group includes linebackers Ty Boeck (6-2, 215), Simon Miskelley (6-1, 210), outside linebackers Ben Brewton (6-4, 220) and Dre Butler (6-5, 245), offensive linemen Dylan Cole (6-4, 280) and Zach Fox (6-4, 265), defensive lineman Chandon Page (6-2, 305) and running back Josiah Futral (6-0, 200).
“We’ve made some incredible improvements to our roster,” added Arth. “We really attacked areas that we needed to attack. They are going to provide an immediate impact in our program and that was important to us. You look at this class and we have certainly improved the roster, but more importantly to me, we improved our program and improved our campus.”