Russ Huesman

As University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football coach Russ Huesman sat behind his desk one day last week, defensive back Chris Lewis-Harris sat in a chair on the other side.

Lewis-Harris was facing away from his coach while watching film from practice on a large flat-screen TV. Meanwhile, Huesman was working intently on his own, putting together a depth chart for the Mocs' punt team -- though he did offer a comment from time to time to Lewis-Harris, who has moved from cornerback to safety this spring.

The scene captured the many hats that Huesman is still wearing in his second year at UTC. He's not only the head coach, which involves countless responsibilities, but he also coaches the safeties and handles the punt team.

"I don't think anything's changed, actually, from my role last year," Huesman said. "I like being involved."

Staff Photo by Allison Kwesell
First-year Mocs head coach Russ Huesman applauds players during the first preseason practice for the team at Scrappy Moore Field.

Huesman helped out with the safeties and oversaw all of the special teams last season. His load is a little lighter now because he's handed the special teams coordinator duties over to defensive line coach Jimmy Lindsey. Huesman will still run the punt team, but he'll leave the rest of the kicking game to Lindsey.

"He's had a lot of special teams experience in the past," Huesman said. "He's coached a lot of the units before and ... Jimmy's a bright coach who will do a great job with them."

Huesman is more hands-on than his predecessor, Rodney Allison, who spent time watching all aspects of the team during practice but didn't coach a position. Huesman tried that last spring, his first as a head coach, and didn't like it.

"I said 'I can't do that,'" he said. "Last spring was actually a hard spring because I'd just stand there and kind of watch, make sure nobody turned the ball over."

During the first three practices this spring, Huesman has spent about 45 minutes working with the safeties before letting defensive coordinator Adam Fuller know that he was heading over to check up on the offense.

"I just wave to Adam to let him know, and he'll wave back," he said.

It's spring break at UTC this week, and while most of the players have left town for home or the beach, the coaches are using the time off to learn from other coaches. Fuller spent a couple of days down at Clemson sitting in on the Tigers' defensive meetings, and offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield plans to visit Tennessee and possibly Kentucky.

"You just go and talk and see if you can't pick up on some things that we can use," Satterfield said.

The Mocs will resume practice March 17. The first scrimmage is scheduled for March 20.