Conference SoCon | First seen 1997 | |
Description Anthropomorphic mockingbird | ||
Scrappy is the mascot of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. He is a mockingbird, the state bird of Tennessee. Scrappy is named after the legendary, former Chattanooga football coach, A.C. "Scrappy" Moore.
History
Chattanooga used to be the "Moccasins". Several identities have been associated with UTC. A water moccasin mascot was used in the 1920s. A Native American mascot was used until 1997. There was a short time in the 1980s when a break was taken from the Native American imagery, so a moccasin shoe was the mascot. Due to politically sensitive issues, it was decided to drop the use of Native American imagery. The nickname "Moccasins" was shortened to "Mocs" and the state bird was selected as mascot. The primary logo was Scrappy riding a train from 1997 until 2007. This tied in with Chattanooga's history as a major railroad hub. Scrappy underwent a re-design in 2008 to better match mockingbirds and drop the railroad imagery. Scrappy has remained the same since 2008.