University Nickname
The school's athletic teams are called the Mocs. The teams were nicknamed Moccasins until 1996. (The origin of the name is uncertain; however, Moccasin Bend is a large horseshoe-shaped bend in the Tennessee River directly below Lookout Mountain.)
The mascot has taken on four distinct forms, with a water moccasin being the mascot in the 1920s, and then a moccasin shoe (known as "The Shoe") was actually used as the school's mascot at times in the 1960s and 1970s. From the 1970s until 1996, the mascot was Chief Moccanooga, an exaggerated Cherokee tribesman.
In 1996, due to concerns over ethnic sensitivity, the Moccasins name and image were dropped in favor of the shortened "Mocs" and an anthropomorphized northern mockingbird, in accordance with the state bird, named "Scrappy" dressed as a railroad engineer. The school's main athletic logo features Scrappy riding a train (a reference to Chattanooga's history as a major railroad hub and to the song "Chattanooga Choo Choo"). The mascot takes its name from former football coach A. C. "Scrappy" Moore.
Read more about this topic: University Of Tennessee At Chattanooga
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