UTC's new assistant wrestling coachs Jeff Bedard, standing left, and Niko Brown lead athletes in practice on the first floor of McKenzie arena on Tuesday. UTC also has a new wrestling room and mats which are currently curing and should be ready for use by next week.Jeff Bedard and Niko Brown will be lending their expertise to the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga wrestling team.
The 44-year-old Bedard, a former Don Elia disciple at Carson-Newman, is replacing Jon Sioredas, who left to become head coach at Grand Canyon University in Phoeniz, which is currently transitioning to Division I.
Brown, a former UTC standout, steps into the assistant's spot formerly occupied by Mark Ellis, the former two-time NCAA champion who resigned to enter private business.
"Both of these guys understand and believe in the direction and culture of our program. They not only believe in it but want to add to what we have already done," Mocs coach Heath Eslinger said.
Bedard has been around, coaching at the high school and collegiate levels and competing at the national and international levels.
"He's a wrestling guru," Eslinger said. "He has been coached by and coached with some of the best in the country. He's already doing great things in our practice room."
Brown, a two-time NCAA qualifier who won the Southern Conference 197-pound championship his senior season at UTC, remained with the program once he graduated. He moves from a volunteer assistant's role to that of full-time assistant.
"He's one of our guys. It's always good when you have guys come through your program that want to stick around," Eslinger said. "He knows this program, the university and the community."
Bedard, who last coached collegiately at Cornell (1998-99), spent four years at the Olympic training center as a resident athlete while a part of the Army's W-CAP (world class athlete program). He then coached at Wesleyan High School, a private school in Norcross, Ga., before opening his own training center -- Compound Wrestling -- in Buford, Ga.
He also competed for several years in mixed martial arts.
"That was a lot of fun. I wish I was younger with all the money they're making now," he said.
He brings intensity to the UTC program along with his experience. That includes the coaching stops, competing for two U.S. Olympic teams and wrestling with and against some of the world's best wrestlers.
"Being around some of the best coaches in the world and wrestling some of the best in the world, you pick up a lot of things," he said.
"He's awesome," Brown said of Bedard. "He's so good at critiquing the little things, and he knows how you should feel and how to adjust your mindset. He wants to help everybody. It's not about him, but he knows a lot. He's the real deal."
Mindset and total person development are important to Bedard.
"The biggest benefit [of MMA], and it's something that correlates regardless of the level of competition, is mindset -- believing in your skills and believing in yourself and being consistent with your work ethic," he said. "Wrestling is my passion, but there's a lot more to life than wrestling, and guys need to understand that and keep it in perspective."
Brown is a product of that philosophy, which Eslinger brought with him when he took over the program in 2009.
"It feels really good to be a real part of it," Brown said. "I feel like I'm more now than just a helper, although my responsibilities won't change a whole lot other than recruiting. I feel like I have a little more confidence now that Coach had the confidence in me to put me on the staff."
Contact Ward Gossett at wgossett@timesfreepress.com or 423-886-4765. Follow him at Twitter.com/wardgossett.