2016 MOCS FOOTBALL UNIVERSITY/STAFF MEDIA INFO 135 CHANCELLOR 2016 MOCS FOOTBALL DR. STEVEN ANGLE CHANCELLOR over the past few years. Since 2010, Dr. Angle serves on multiple boards in the number of undergraduate degrees the community, as well as the Southern awarded has increased 61.58 percent, Conference President’s Council, and was and the six-year graduation rate rose to recently invited to be a member of the 44, marking a 15.7 improvement. 2016-2017 class for Leadership Tennes- In the past three years, UTC has added see, a group of statewide leaders who several new graduate programs, includ- explore solutions to Tennessee’s most ing a doctorate in occupational therapy pressing needs. and master’s degrees in interior design and social work, and a computer science He earned a B.A. in Chemistry from the graduate program for students from non- University of California, Irvine (1978) and technical fields. UTC has expanded re- a M.S. in Organic Chemistry from the Uni- search on the campus, including involving versity of California, Los Angeles (1981), Dr. Steven Angle became Chancellor more undergraduate students in research. before returning to UC-Irvine for a Ph.D. and the 17th leader of The University of in Organic Chemistry (1984). Tennessee at Chattanooga in July 2013. UTC benefits from strong partnerships with the surrounding region, which cre- He is married to Dr. Dominique Belanger, Since that time, Dr. Angle has worked to ate opportunities for students and faculty. and is the father of three: Brad, Ian, and foster a campus culture that embraces the Chattanooga serves as a living labo- Zoe. dual strategic initiatives of providing an ex- ratory for students cellent educational experience to students to gain real world and strengthening connections with the knowledge through Chattanooga community and surrounding experiential learn- region. In June 2015, UTC’s new strategic ing opportunities, plan, which emphasizes these two initia- field placements, tives, was approved by the University of and internships. To Tennessee Board of Trustees. better serve the edu- cational needs of UTC’s average high school GPA for in- all students in the coming 2015 freshmen was 3.48—the region, UTC recently highest in 20 years – and the average signed dual admis- ACT of 23.4 surpassed both state and sion and transfer national averages for college-bound agreements with students. In spring 2016, UTC’s student Chattanooga State athletes earned a record-high average and Cleveland State GPA of 3.114. community colleges to ease the transition Through a focus on student success at all of students, includ- levels, UTC has made significant increas- ing honors students, es in the number of bachelor’s degrees from the two-year awarded and the six-year graduation rate campuses to UTC. Dr. Jerald Ainsworth Dr. Richard Brown Dr. Bryan Rowland Dr. Joanne Romagni Kirk Englehardt Dr. Dee Dee Anderson Terry Denniston Senior Vice Chancellor Executive Vice Chancellor Vice Chancellor Vice Chancellor Vice Chancellor Interim Vice Chancellor Chief of Staff Academic Affairs Finance, Ops & IT Development/Alumni Affairs Research Marketing & Communications Student Development UC Foundation Exec. Dir. Graduate School Dean 136 2016 MOCS FOOTBALL DIRECTOR OF ATHLETICS DAVID BLACKBURN VICE CHANCELLOR & DIRECTOR OF ATHLETICS Volleyball had its best season in nearly two decades, led the SoCon in attendance in football, men’s bas- while women’s basketball and wrestling continued ketball, women’s basketball and wrestling each of to dominate the league. All totaled, the Mocs have the last two seasons. The Southern Scuffle has also brought home a SoCon-leading 21 regular season grown into the top in-season wrestling tournament in and tournament titles in all sports over the last three the nation, while softball continues to enjoy a strong years. following. Blackburn has also turned heads with his impressive All of this success came as no surprise, based on head coaching hires. When he took over in 2013, he the experiences and expertise Blackburn brought to had the unique situation of filling vacancies in both the position. He spent the previous two decades in men’s and women’s basketball. By all accounts, he a number of administrative roles at the University of nailed each hire with Will Wade and Jim Foster. Tennessee. He most recently served as the Senior Associate Athletics Director for Administration where Foster has won three-straight SoCon titles and has he was member of the Volunteers’ executive staff. had the women’s program ranked in the top 25 over the last three seasons. Wade turned around the A native of Loudon, Tenn., Blackburn is married to men’s team and parlayed that into the head coach- Has there ever been a better time to be a Moc? That the former Andrea Radel of Albion, Mich. They have ing position at VCU. question has been posed all over the Scenic City the two daughters, Emma, who is currently a sophomore last three years. Southern Conference titles, record at UTC, and Charlee. He is a 1990 graduate of Ten- Blackburn quickly snagged Florida assistant Matt attendance and unprecedented academic success nessee with a Bachelor of Science in Education. McCall who was the SoCon Coach of the Year in have all raised the level of excitement for athletics at 2016, leading UTC to 29 the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. wins in this first season. He also hired Gavin McK- None of this has occurred by accident or happen- inney in 2015 to take over stance. It is the culmination of extremely hard work the women’s soccer pro- by a very talented group of student-athletes, coaches gram. and support staff, under the leadership of Vice Chan- cellor and Director of Athletics David Blackburn. In the classroom, UTC student-athletes set a Hired on April 20, 2013, Blackburn quickly instilled school record for semes- a new mission that focused on equipping the entire ter grade-point-average athletics department for success, while accompany- with a 3.113 in the fall. ing a vision of achieving excellence. It is clear that Overall, student-athletes both messages have been received in competition, at UTC have posted a 3.0 in the classroom and in the community. or higher for five straight terms after hitting the The 2015-16 season saw the Mocs become the first mark for the first time in in the more than 100-year history of the Southern spring of 2014. UTC had Conference win the football, men’s basketball and record numbers of stu- women’s basketball championships in the same dent-athletes on the Aca- year. UTC also won titles in volleyball and wrestling, demic All-SoCon teams while leading the SoCon in attendance in football in 2015, while eight pro- and men’s and women’s basketball for the second grams beat the national year in a row. average for APR scores in 2015-16. UTC saw continued excellence in the football pro- gram with its third-straight SoCon title in 2015. UTC The Chattanooga com- advanced to the FCS Playoffs for the second time, munity has also taken while the men’s basketball team was back in the note of what is happening NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2009. David Blackburn with his wife, Andrea, and daughters Charlee at UTC. The Mocs have and Emma. Laura Herron Andrew Horton Scott Altizer Mike Royster Dr. Emily Blackman Dr. Jay Blackman Rob Robinson Dr. Debbie Ingram Senior Associate Sr. Associate A.D. Sr. Associate A.D. Assistant A.D. Associate A.D. Sr. Associate A.D. Associate A.D. Faculty Athletics Athletics Director External Ops Internal Ops Equip. & Facilities Student Support Communication & Innovation Business Affairs Representative 137 HEAD COACHES/ADDITIONAL STAFF 2016 MOCS FOOTBALL HEAD COACHES Chad Camper Heath Eslinger Travis Filar Jim Foster Carlos Garcia Women’s Tennis Wrestling Volleyball Women’s Basketball Men’s Tennis Bill Gautier Mark Guhne Matt McCall Gavin McKinney Colette Murray Frank Reed Cross Country/T&F Men’s Golf Men’s Basketball Soccer Women’s Golf Softball ADDITIONAL ATHLETICS SUPPORT STAFF Garrett Brooks Melissa Cate Alex Clack Taylor Fike Andrew Forrest Asst. Dir. - Ticketing Admin. Assistant External Coordinator Mocs Sports Properties Asst. GM - Mocs Sports Properties Leah Gill Anne Jay Ken Jones Sam Lancaster Brent McMillian Cliff Miller Dir. - Creative Services Admin. Assistant Asst. A.D. - Compliance Marketing Assistant Dir. - Mocs Club Dir. of Ticketing Lauren Mills Andy Page Travis Patrick Troy Van Zile Matthew Wagner Alex Ware Admin. Assistant Creative Services Asst. Mocs Sports Properties Asst. A.D. - Development Production Coordinator Asst. Dir. - Mocs Club Stephanie West Geoff Wilcox Admin. Assistant Asst. A.D. - Marketing 138 2016 MOCS FOOTBALL MISSION/CORE VALUES MOCS MISSION VISION & CORE VALUES OUR MISSION ACADEMICALLY • The Mocs set a program record with a 3.113 g.p.a. in the 2015 fall semester and Equipping for Success had a 3.106 in the spring. It was the fifth- straight time UTC topped the 3.0 mark. OUR VISION • 84 student-athletes earned degrees in 2015-16. To Achieve Excellence • UTC had two CoSIDA Academic All- Americans in Derrick Craine (Football) and Paul Stuart (Cross Country). OUR CORE VALUES • A total of 78 student-athletes were named Seven core values guide and to the fall and spring Academic All-South- govern our actions at all times: ern Conference Teams. ATHLETICALLY • Five teams won SoCon titles in 2015- Integrity 16 - volleyball, football, men’s basketball, women’s basketball and wrestling. Accountability • The Mocs became the first program in the history of the Southern Conference to win the football and men’s and women’s Respect basketball championships in the same season.