Former Moc Chris Cook will join football staff

The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football program has added East Carolina assistant and former Mocs offensive lineman Chris Cook to its staff, according to a report on FootballScoop.com.

Cook is a 2009 graduate of UTC who played center for the Mocs from 2001 to ’03. After his college playing days, he pursued a professional football career, attending workouts with the Buffalo Bills, Chicago Bears, Indianapolis Colts and Philadelphia Eagles.

In 2008, he co-founded Gamechangers Football Academy — based in Charlotte, N.C. — to develop community youth in academics, personal conduct and sportsmanship, and he oversaw youth summer camps while trying to prepare high school student-athletes for college recruiting.

He spent the 2015 season as defensive coordinator and defensive line coach at Independence High School in Charlotte, with that defense holding opponents to seven or fewer points six times, including two shutouts.

He spent last season as an offensive quality control coordinator at East Carolina, working mainly with the offensive line.

According to the report, Cook will coach tight ends and tackles, although his official title has not been confirmed by UTC. He replaces Shawn Bryson, who left this spring to become the head coach at Rabun Gap-Nacoochee School in Georgia. Bryson was the only remaining member of former coach Russ Huesman’s staff.

Three members of firstyear UTC head coach Tom Arth’s staff have left since he took over in December, two of them for NFL jobs. Outside linebackers coach DeMarcus Covington left this past weekend to join the New England Patriots; defensive coordinator Brandon Staley left in February to join the Chicago Bears.

Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress. com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenleytfp.