University of Tennessee-Chattanooga director of athletics Mark Wharton announced that the school will give head football coach Rusty Wright a one-year contract extension.
After being hired on December 21, 2018, Coach Wright posted a 6-6 record in year one with the Mocs. His five Southern Conference wins landed the Mocs a third place finish in the league standings. The five conference wins tie Wright with Buddy Nix (6-5, 5-1 in 1984) and Bill Oliver (8-3, 5-2) for most league wins in a first season. His six overall wins tie him with former Mocs’ coaches Nix and Russ Huesman (6-5, 4-4 in 2009) for second-most overall victories in a rookie season over the last 40 years.
Under Wright, Chattanooga posted record team grade-point-averages in both the spring and fall semesters. UTC football had a 2.79 in the spring of 2019 and a 2.83 in the fall, while setting a program record with 37 student-athletes on the Dean’s List and 50 on the A.D Honor Roll.
Wright is a 1996 graduate of UTC, and prior to becoming the head coach served two separate stints as an assistant coach at his alma mater. UTC will open year-two of the Rusty Wright era on September 5 at Western Kentucky.