After what he considered to be a disappointing junior season at East Limestone, Haze Solomon sat down with Indians football coach Jeff Pugh to ask what he needed to do to improve, earn more playing time and a potential college scholarship.

Solomon took Pugh’s recommendations to heart, and it paid off with him accepting a full scholarship offer to play football at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.

“Haze was real conscious about getting better and being the best player he could be,” Pugh said. “I told him what he needed to do and laid out the parameters, in the weight room and what he needed to put on film. He really worked hard to improve. He gained 22 pounds in the weight room, got a lot better in his form and really got more aggressive.”

Solomon played the tight end position at East Limestone, but was used mostly as a blocker in the Indians’ run-heavy offensive scheme. He was recruited to play offensive tackle in college.

“I told him his forte at the next level would be as a blocker, so when we snap the football, he really needed to be destroying people,” Pugh said. “He had to be a force on the offensive line for us, and he really did that. As far as one-on-one blocking, he really did a good job for us,”

Solomon had seven scholarship offers, and said it came down to a decision between UT-Chattanooga and Birmingham Southern.

“The big thing for me picking a school was I wanted it to have that hometown feel,” Solomon said. “I was looking for a home away from home. I went to UT-Chattanooga, and had a great time. The coach (Rusty Wright) treated me and my family awesome. When I left my visit, after talking to the coach and doing my photo shoot, it felt like I was leaving Athens. That’s another thing that let me know I wanted to go there. When I put on the pads for the photo shoot, something in my gut was telling me that was where I needed to be.”

UT-Chattanooga competes at the Division I Football Championship Subdivision level, as members of the Southern Conference. The Mocs won three consecutive Southern Conference championships from 2013-2015. They finished with a 6-6 record last season, Wright’s first season as head coach.

Wednesday was the beginning of the early signing day period. Players could either sign with a college during this week or wait until February for the late signing day period. Solomon wanted to go ahead and get his recruitment over with and chose to sign in the early period.

“It’s kind of like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders,” Solomon said. “It’s been a long road coming. It didn’t come easy. I had to work my butt off to get it, but it’s a huge blessing and I couldn’t be more excited.”

Pugh said Solomon’s signing with UT-Chattanooga was a just reward for the hard work the senior put in to improve.

“(UTC coaches) really saw the upside on this kid,” Pugh said. “He really got after it and had some really good film this season. I’m proud of him. UT-Chattanooga is the place he wants to go. He’s happy and we’re happy for him.”