The Chattanooga Mocs began spring practice this week in preparation for the 2022 campaign. It's week one of five. At the conclusion of each week, GoMocs.com will share a "Friday Focus" feature looking at key areas, stories or whatever the author decides is fun to share.
 
We start with a position near and dear to the heart. The 2021 offensive line was one of the best in school history. How do we know? Well, the unit tied the school record for sacks allowed (9) and was one of the best in the nation in keeping the quarterback clean and producing positive plays with just four tackles for loss allowed per contest.
 
Three starters depart – LT Harrison Moon, C Kyle Miskelley & LG Cole Strange – as well as a key reserve/sometimes starter, C/G Blake Mitchell. Two return on the right side, however, in RG McClendon Curtis and RT Colin Truett. That duo has started alongside each other 21 times and form the foundation of another strong o-line with a lot of faith in the potential of the younger guys ready to step into the shoes of the graduated starting trio.
 
Having guys like McClendon and Colin at the core of this unit makes first-year offensive line coach Kevin Revis' job a little easier.
 
"Those guys set the standard," he noted. "Just in what it means to handle your business as an offensive lineman. I see them constantly coaching up other guys and helping them along. For me? It's invaluable because it's like having an extension of myself right out there on the field.
 
"You see it in how the young guys have progressed just seeing the way 'Curt' and Colin handle their business. It's an example of how to work and practice every day, and it means more when they see it from their peers."
 
It's obvious to the more than casual observer of Mocs football. These guys are leaders on and off the field with both earning Dean's List status. McClendon was the program's nominee for the Doris Robinson Award, the FCS Student-Athlete of the Year, and serves on a select NCAA Committee representing FCS student-athletes across the country. When the term "character guys" is used, the originator certainly had these two in mind.
 
"Those are two guys who have played a lot of football and understand what we're trying to do," Coach Rusty Wright shared. "Both are really self-made guys which is something really cool about them. Seeing where they are impresses on other guys that if you work hard at it, good things will happen."
 
There's a lot of truth to that. They come from different places, McClendon from Chattanooga with a bigger than life personality. Colin from Ohio with a more understated nature. They came together in 2019 after Truett transferred from Cincinnati. It only took a few games before they were united on the right side and there's been no looking back.
 
The biblical parable of one who built on rock and one who built on sand applies here. The Mocs offensive line is certainly built upon a solid foundation, or should we say the "right" foundation.
 
McClendon Curtis on Colin Truett:
"Funny thing is, (after a few games in 2019) it was my first year starting...he got thrown into the fire too. I had to grow up after game three and game four, he was there. We grew together, and it's made that right side really strong."
 
Colin Truett on McClendon Curtis:
"There's no getting around me to my left. They try that and they run into 'Big Curt', and that's like running into a brick wall. He's helped me on and off the field."