Chattanooga football fans can easily recall Tommy Hudson's two punt returns for touchdowns during last fall's run to the Southern Conference Championship. In case you don't remember, he had a 58-yarder at Austin Peay and a 66-yarder against Samford.
The longtime fans recollect when Class of 2015 Hall of Fame inductee David McCrary (1982-85) did that same thing twice in one game.
McCrary is one of five individuals recently inducted into the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Athletics Hall of Fame. He is widely considered among the best defensive backs in school history, but it was his prowess as a returner that kept Southern Conference opponents up at night.
A first team All-Southern Conference pick in 1984, McCrary graduated with a then-school-record 11 interceptions and a Southern Conference record 1,253 punt return yards.
His prowess in the return game showed early in his freshman year when he scored on a 76-yard kickoff against Jacksonville State on Sept. 23, 1982. At the time, it was the third longest KOR for a TD in school history.
As a punt returner, his 118 career returns is still a SoCon record and his career yardage was not eclipsed until Appalachian State's Davon Fowles (1,276 – 2001-04) topped it in 2004.
He twice burnt Marshall for a touchdown on a punt return, including a 73-yarder as a sophomore on Oct. 22, 1983, and a 52-yarder as a senior on Nov. 2, 1985.
“You can't be afraid to get hit for one thing,” stated McCrary, when asked about what it takes to be a great punt returner. “They are coming down to knock you out and you have to concentrate on the ball and know when to call a fair catch. It takes courage I guess. You've got to have courage and you can't be scared back there. If you are scared, you are going to get hurt or you are going to fumble the ball.”
His signature game was in his sophomore season against Southwestern Louisiana. With the Mocs on top 14-0 early in the second quarter, he intercepted a pass on the Cajuns' 20 and returned it for a score. He then iced the game with a 57-yard interception return for a touchdown in the fourth quarter for a 31-6 lead.
Chattanooga went on to win 38-14. At the time, Southwestern Louisiana was a Division I-A independent, making it the Mocs' first victory over an upper division opponent since moving to I-AA in 1977.
“We had a heck of a defensive coordinator in Coach (Joe) Pate,” stated McCrary. “I heard he never played football, but he was a great football mind. He got us ready for the game. Coach (Johnny) Henderson was the DB coach and he was great.
“We looked at film that whole week and knew what they were going to do. They picked me to cover some of their best receivers, so I was flopping sides. I guess they tried me … and I won.”
McCrary came to Chattanooga after a standout career as a quarterback at Rockmart High School in Rockmart, Ga. He chose UTC on the advice of two former Mocs who were from the same home town.
“At that time I was recruited by Clemson, Georgia, Jax State, and others, but Michael Mitchell (1979-82) and Kenny Mitchell (1976-78) were both from Rockmart and it was an opportunity to follow them,” explained Mitchell.
It turned out to be a great decision for Mocs fans, as McCrary became a part of the 1984 defense that carried the UTC to a SoCon title and its first appearance in the playoffs. He is the fifth member of that defense to go into the UTC Athletics Hall of Fame, join Randall “Brick” Mitchell, Glen Richardson, Brent Johnson and Bob Standifer.
“We were just playing with a lot of people who were hungry because we didn't get to play for a big school,” added McCrary. “It was our opportunity to shine. It was the camaraderie of playing with guys like Glen Richardson, Brick Mitchell, Phillip Aldridge, Gary Bloodshaw … a lot of friends. They knew at the time we were out there for business.”
All of those wins and all of that talent resulted in big crowds in the cozy confines of Chamberlain Field. The Mocs averaged over 8,000 fans for five home games in 1984.
“I had never seen anything like it,” said McCrary about the home field advantage in the on-campus stadium. “I am from a small town and we didn't have over 1,000 people at our school. At the time, it was packed. We were not dressing at the arena yet, but were coming out from under the stadium. We had the old locker room and coming out of that building for a packed house was something else.”
Most around Chattanooga did not expect it to take another 30 years for the Mocs to win another SoCon title. However, back-to-back championships in 2013 and 2014 are keeping alumni like McCrary in touch with the program.
“I come back to just see the people and cheer on the team,” he said. “They have been doing great things, not just last year but the last couple of years.”
Nowadays, the Mocs are just following in his footsteps.
