Rick Hart	- Download MP3-

Putting a football schedule together is a lot like trying to solve a Rubik’s Cube. Getting one part done is pretty easy, but the completed portions are at risk every time you address the other sides.

Nine of the games on its 2008 schedule were easy to lock in for the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. There were the eight against Southern Conference teams and the continued home-and-home series with Jacksonville State. After that, however, nothing came without hurdles to clear.

Patience, persistence and some creativity are required.

“It’s like a puzzle, and I like puzzles,” said UTC associate athletic director Matt Pope, who handled many of the schedule details.

Factoring in the wants and needs of UTC and the dates it had available with the wants, needs and open dates of potential nonconference opponents made the puzzle complicated. Then, because two of the final three games the Mocs were trying to schedule were “money” games against Football Bowl Subdivision teams, the stakes got higher and the deals became even more important.

The guarantee games, or “money” games, that Football Championship Subdivision teams play are precious. The hundreds of thousands of dollars they bring in are vital to a program such as UTC, which can use that money to improve facilities and equipment and make other helpful purchases.

“We can do a lot of good things with that money,” Mocs coach Rodney Allison said.

Unlike last season, when UTC received $325,000 to play Arkansas, FCS teams are playing 12-game schedules this year, which means UTC was able to schedule two guarantee games and more than double its haul from the season before. Of course the Mocs weren’t the only team trying to do that, which made for a crowded scheduling marketplace.

“You had another game on the schedule but basically the same pool of teams to choose from, so there was a lot of competition for those games,” UTC athletic director Rick Hart said.

Two of the first names to pop up as possible opponents for UTC were obvious ones for Hart: Oklahoma and Florida State. He spent seven years in the Oklahoma athletic department before coming to UTC, and his father was the athletic director at Florida State until December.

Those teams worked out for UTC. The Mocs open their season Aug. 30 at Oklahoma and play FSU’s Seminoles on Sept. 13, bringing UTC a combined $935,000. But there were obstacles, Hart said.

“On several occasions we did think we were working toward a resolution and a deal, and I’d say at least three times that ended up not being the case,” Hart said.

For a while, UTC was having conversations with South Florida and Auburn, among other schools. The Mocs discussed taking over UT-Martin’s contract to play South Florida, which would allow the Skyhawks to play Auburn, but the deal was never worked out, and UT-Martin eventually wound up scheduling both South Florida and Auburn for 2008.

Along with the money games, UTC sought a lower-level opponent to play in its home opener on Sept. 6. For weeks that opponent was thought to be Belhaven College, an NAIA school in Jackson, Miss., but when that deal fell through it left the Mocs scrambling — right in the direction of Cumberland University in Lebanon, Tenn., another NAIA program.

“It started with just a phone call from Coach Allison,” Cumberland coach Dewayne Alexander said of the deal that was finalized earlier this month. “He called and asked if we were interested, and we were.”

Cumberland, which played Tennessee Tech last season, had been unable to schedule a game against an upper-level opponent for next season, so Alexander was very happy when Allison called him.

“These games are great opportunities for our players, the money ($30,000) will help us and it will help us with recruiting,” Alexander said. “We’ve got 82 in-state players on our roster, including a bunch of players from the Chattanooga area, so this was win-win for us.

“We’re excited about this game the same way UTC’s players and coaches are excited about the chance to play Oklahoma.”

It was also a winner for the Mocs because it gave them a not-so-punishing game between their trips to Norman, Okla., and Tallahassee, Fla. Also, getting that deal done meant that finally, after months and months of phone calls and e-mails with coaches throughout the Southeast, UTC’s schedule was complete.

“I never had a high anxiety level about (getting it done) because at the end of the day I knew we were going to figure something out,” Hart said. “I am glad it’s done, though, and hopefully we learned a few things that will make it a little easier next time.”

UTC 2008 schedule

Aug. 30 at Oklahoma

Sept. 6 Cumberland

Sept. 13 at Florida State

Sept. 20 Jacksonville State

Sept. 27 at Furman

Oct. 4 Georgia Southern

Oct. 11 at Wofford

Oct. 18 Elon

Oct. 25 off

Nov. 1 at Western Carolina

Nov. 8 Appalachian State

Nov. 15 at The Citadel

Nov. 22 Samford

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