WRCBtv.com | Chattanooga News, Weather & SportsRayl, Tull emerging as future bookends for the Mocs

CHATTANOOGA (WRCB) -- University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football players are learning to trust defensive roster decisions made by head coach Russ Huesman.

After all, his unit won a national championship three years ago at Richmond.

"Speed is what helps you become a great defense, and you build it that way," Huesman said. "You take a big linebacker like Zack Rayl, put him at defensive end, and instead of an average-speed linebacker he becomes an extremely fast defensive end."

There was one major problem with that move when coaches proposed it this past spring: the redshirt freshman had never played on the defensive line at any level of football.

"I was skeptical at first, but I'm beginning to like it and get the hang of it," Rayl said. "Putting your hand on the ground is definitely a big change though."

Rayl played quarterback, safety, and eventually linebacker during a standout career at McMinn Central High. However, maybe he would have been better suited as a rush end.

"The first practice, he looked pretty natural," said UTC defensive coordinator Adam Fuller. "Anytime they can do things that you don't coach, it makes your job a lot easier, and he was one of those."

Rayl's roommate and fellow redshirt freshman Davis Tull was one of those as well, though he won't admit it.

"Watching Zack is incredible. I watched myself in practice last year and I was awful compared to now, and he's light years ahead of where I was," Tull said.

Tull started his prep career as a wideout at Bearden High before switching to stand-up defensive end as a junior.

He started receiving interest from Football Bowl Subdivision schools, but those calls stopped coming after he suffered a broken leg.

"When all the schools are calling it's easy to get a big head and kind of slack off, but now after the injury I'll never do it again," Tull said. "I think I'm working way harder now than I would have if I'd never been injured."

He wound up walking on with the Mocs, who originally recruited him to play offense.

"They recruited me for tight end, but when they said I was going to walk on I asked to play d-end," Tull said. "In high school, you just stand up and run to the guy with the ball. Here it's a lot more complicated."

But Tull's natural ability makes it look easier than it really is, which is yet another lucky break in Huesman's eyes.

"Davis was a pretty lucky deal there. If he hadn't been injured, it probably would have been a big-time recruiting battle," Huesman said. "Once we saw what he could do his first year, we took care of him like we take care of all the walk-ons in the program who come in and play hard."

When all-SoCon defensive end and former Tennessee transfer Chris Donald was forced to give up the game because of wrist injuries, a window of opportunity opened for Rayl and Tull to make an immediate impact.

Along with junior Josh Williams and senior De'Markus Lee, Chattanooga now appears to have four solid options at defensive end who will share playing time this season.

"We've got a mixed bag of guys as far as experience and eligibility remaining, and some do certain things better than others," said Fuller. "We'll see who earns the most reps in camp, but we'll definitely be using all four of them this year."

And that can only be a positive for Rayl and Tull, who each have four years of eligibility left.

"I don't know if I'm really good, but I'm trying to be," Tull said. "I think we're all working really hard to be good defensive ends, and we will be in the future."