SCHEDULE | TICKETS
 
CHATTANOOGA---The Chattanooga Mocs are well underway in preparation for August's fall camp in the Scenic City. A majority of the roster is already on campus working out and readying for an exciting 2024 campaign.
 
Last week, we asked 'who's next' on the offensive line. This week, we go to the far side of the field and put the secondary under the microscope.
 
Since 2019, just six guys have made the majority of the starts at the safety positions. The trio of Brandon Dowdell, Rashun Freeman and Jerrell Lawson passed on the tradition to the latest deep threats - Josh Battle, Reuben Lowery III and Jordan Walker. (Ed. note: the role Lowery plays is a hybrid in a 4-2-5 setup that morphs some corner, linebacker and safety feels. GoMocs.com refers to it as a slot safety).
 
That's six years with six guys. There have been others in the mix. D.J. Jackson, current Indianapolis Colt Clay Fields III, etc., but the mainstays are those six over six years with a seventh on the way.
 
Battle, Lowery and Walker are all back with two, Battle and Walker, juniors due to the COVID eligibility exemption. It's a special group and really where any discussion of a strong secondary starts.
 
"You know, we're looking for Reuben to be Reuben," Coach Rusty Wright opened. "Jordan Walker and Josh Battle to take those next steps of being consistent all-conference type players, because they can. Then it's about finding out who those other two spots (on the corners) are."
 
Yep, for all the experience at safety, it is open field on the corners. Wright has always had at least one veteran corner from Jordan Jones to CaMiron Smith to All-American Kam Brown as a sort of security blanket. Now it's time for the next gen to make it happen.
 
"We got a good group of young guys," he continued. "A good group to choose from that needs to take those two corner spots and own them. Some of them don't realize how good they can be right now."
 
There're young guys like sophomore D.J. Adams and redshirt freshmen Christian Harris and Martz Cooksey, Jr., coming. Juniors Demetrius Coleman and Jeremiah Batiste are squarely in the mix as well as transfers Amaari Smith (Western Kentucky) and Taylor Smallwood (Lafayette) who enrolled in time for spring practice.
 
Summer transfers Treyvon Hobbs (Brown) and Rickie Davis, Jr. (Western Kentucky) can fit a lot of spots from corners to safeties. More safety depth is found in Kam Baah-Slay, who like Adams forced his way onto the field as true freshman in 2023. Juniors Chayce Bishop and Josh Jones are looking to emerge as is sophomore Meshach Jones. The lone true freshman is Beni Mwamba from Erlanger, Ky.
 
But circling back to the "togetherness" of that room. It's still amazing to think of the impact Lawson, Dowdell and Freeman made dating back to 2017 through their overlap with Battle, Lowery and Walker. That's close to eight seasons with another to come for the legacy.
 
"I think it goes to show what kind of kids we have, and the trust we have in them," Wright added. "I mean, that's kind of how you want things to be. If you can, which is hard to do in this day and age, but that also shows you how much confidence we have in those guys too."
 
We sat down with Jordan Walker for a quick Q&A on a multitude of things. The easygoing 5th-year junior is an enjoyable conversation.
 
When you got here, there was a trio of starters who had been together for a few years in Jerrell Lawson, Brandon Dowdell & Rashun Freeman. Talk about continuing that legacy of talented safeties staying together in this secondary:
Walker: "Coming in and seeing those guys, the chemistry they built together. How they worked together...hung out together off the field and they just went out there on the field and made plays together. They communicated and made sure that everybody else on defense was in the same place and coming up watching that it was amazing at first. Now Josh, Reuben and I took over their positions, we looked to do that and even extending further and just try to make sure the defense is in the right place and we're out there communicating and trying to have the same great chemistry together. I feel like we've built toward that, not like Coach Wright has talked about, we have to take it to another level."
 
Expand on that. How important is not only that support and belief from a coaching staff, but also the accountability on taking the next step as a group?
Walker: "It really makes you feel good because we worked so hard, man. Everybody worked hard to be in those types of positions where people are depending on you. It really means it's bittersweet. It makes me feel good, but it just makes me want to go work even harder to make sure that when the moments come, I'm there to perform to the best of my abilities. As a group, we all think the same way."
 
How do you prepare for that?
Walker: "It means a lot that our coaches and teammates have a lot of trust in us. That's a very amazing role to have. I just look to go out and work hard each and every day and put everything into it and just keep God first trying to take my game to the next level."
 
When you started out, you took every lesion you could from Jerrell before, during and after practice. Now, you're leading that for the next generation. How special is that to you?
Walker: "It's so special, but it's just so unreal at the same time. It seems like just yesterday that was me following Jerrell, and he was teaching me the way. I feel like it's important for one of us older guys to take them under our wings and show them the way. Having that from Jerrell...I just want to do it for the next guy because I know it can be a hard challenge, and I just want them to know they aren't alone. We are all here for each other."
 
Taking that a step further, what do you think Jerrell would think about that now?
Walker: "We are still in contact. He always texts me, telling me how proud he is of me and how bright my future is and stuff like that. That motivates me a lot still to this day because Jerrell was one of the ones that I looked up to by the way he carried himself in the classroom and on the field."
 
How do you feel about your secondary going into 2024 camp especially with the competition on the corners?
Walker: "I see a great group of guys that might not have the most experience, but they work hard each and every day, and we are all moving in one direction. I feel like we have a talented room. Everybody knows what the job is, and that we graduated two great corners. Everybody in that room is working hard and trying to get a starting position. I love to see it. If we keep moving in that one direction, we're gonna be very, very special at that position."
 
2024 Secondary Rooms
Starters Returning/Lost (3/2): Battle, Lowery, Walker | Kam Brown, Telly Plummer
Letter Winners Returning/Lost (10/5): Adams, Baah-Slay, Batiste, Battle, Bishop, Coleman, J. Jones, M. Jones, Lowery, Walker | Brown, Plummer, Clay Fields III, Cardavion Myers, Romeo Wykle
Redshirts/Newcomers (2/5): Harris, Cooksey | Davis, Hobbs, Mwamba, Smallwood, Smith
 
Notes to Know…

• Four Mocs have career starts in the secondary: Walker (21), Battle (20), Lowery (18) & Coleman (3).
• Lowery was top 10 in the SoCon in tackles for loss (8.5) in 2022 from the secondary.
• Walker tied Kam Brown for the team lead in interceptions in 2023 with three apiece.
• Walker (73) and Battle (70) ranked second and third in tackles on the Mocs 2023 edition between linebackers Alex Mitchell (78) and Kobe Joseph (59).
• Hobbs became the second Ivy League transfer to the defense. Last year, LB Kobe Joseph made the journey from Harvard. This time it's a Brown graduate.
• The secondary is quietly an NFL breeding ground in the Scenic City with Fields looking to join long-time performers Buster Skrine '11 and Chris Lewis-Harris '11 as well as Super Bowl Champ Kareem Orr (L.A. Rams) on an NFL roster in the last 10 years.
• Brown was a 2-time All-American at corner for the Mocs (2022, 2023).

 
2024 PREVIEW SERIES
June 5: QB – Y2Chase
June 12: RB – Uncertain Certainty
June 19: WR – All Growns Up
June 26: TE – One More Year
July 3: OL – Who's Next
 
MEET THE MOCS
Sports Talk on WGOW 102.3 FM is running it back again this year. Their weekly "Meet the Mocs" position segments interviewing key student-athletes over the summer months follow along with GoMocs.com's position previews. Check out Jordan Walker with the Sports Talk gurus Scott McMahen, David Paschall and Joe Varner at 4:35 p.m. Click the listen live link here on WGOW.com.
 
SEASON TICKETS ON SALE
Season tickets are now available to the general public. The deadline to renew last year's seats is May 31. Prices start at $60 for general admission. Mocs Club members have the option for reserved seats beginning at the $250 donation level which includes a season parking pass to go with the season ticket. The purchase of season tickets is the lowest per game price for fans.
 
MOCS TOP 10 IN 1ST PRESEASON POLL
The Mocs are No. 10 in the HERO Sports FCS Preseason Top 25 released Thursday morning. The top 10 is led by South Dakota State followed by North Dakota State, Montana, Montana State, South Dakota, Villanova, Idaho, Sacramento State and Southern Illinois. Furman is 14th and Western Carolina comes in at 16.
 
STUDENT SEASON TICKETS AVAILABLE
Season tickets for students are FREE. However, students do need to register for their ticket here.
 
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