The Chattanooga Mocs soccer team is welcoming two of its own back into the fold. Kelly Tuerff ('25) joins the staff as a graduate assistant and Katie Emig Wright ('17) is an assistant coach.
Tuerff spent four seasons with the Mocs and served as team captain her senior year. She was named to the All-Southern Conference First Team in 2023 and was a two-time College Sports Communicators Academic All-District selection.
The Franklin, Tenn., native made 45 starts in 62 games played.
She scored two career goals and three assists. In her freshman year, the midfielder scored her first collegiate goal in a 2-0 win over VMI and had the assist on the game winner against Tennessee Tech. Her second goal was in 2022 against Austin Peay.
Tuerff graduated in May 2025 with Latin Honors with a degree in Health and Human Performance.
Wright is the goalkeeper coach for the Mocs following the departure of long-time assistant coach Martyn Blankley.
Her coaching experience includes coaching with the Chattanooga Football Club (CFC) in the academy as well as the top men's (MSL next pro) and women's (WPSL) teams' goalkeepers at CFC. In 2024 she coached at Lee University.
The Knoxville, Tenn., native transferred to UTC for her final two years from Austin Peay. She made 17 starts and played in 18 matches. She finished in the Top 10 in four categories for the Mocs including wins, shutouts, saves and goals against average. In her senior year, she allowed just five goals and had a .833 saves percentage with three shutouts. Wright tallied a career-high 11 saves against Wofford in a 2-2 draw.
She was named to the UTC Dean's List, Athletics Director's Honor Roll, the Southern Conference Honor Roll and was a recipient of the Southern Conference Commissioner's Medal for Academics.
Wright graduated from UTC in 2017 with a degree in Political Science with a legal studies concentration. In May 2020, she graduated Top 10 in her class from Atlanta's John Marshall Law School. She has her bar license in Georgia and Washington, D.C., specializing in prosecuting crimes against women and children.
Katie and Brian Wright married in September 2020 after meeting at UTC. They have a daughter Ella who is a "spunky 2-year old and a big soccer fan," according to her mother.
The pair join assistant coach Josie Rix, a native of Chattanooga, on Gavin McKinney's 2025 staff.
The Mocs host Georgia State (Aug. 3) and Tennessee (Aug. 6) in a pair of exhibition matches and welcome Winthrop to Finley Stadium on August 14 for the season opener.