T.A. Cunningham was one of the more hyped members of the incoming recruiting class at ETSU.
But it looks like it will be at least 2027 before Cunningham sees action in an ETSU uniform.
Asked about Cunningham’s status during his weekly coaches show, ETSU coach Will Healy said the defensive end was injured and “probably won’t play this year.
“Hate it, but I don’t feel great about him coming back,” Healy said.
Cunningham was conspicuously absent from Saturday’s 49-37 loss to Campbell in the season opener, neither in full uniform nor on the sideline in a jersey, as several other injured Buc players were at William B. Greene Stadium. Cunningham was a consensus four-star prospect coming out of high school in the Atlanta area, signed with Penn State where he did not see the field at all in 2024, then took the junior college route at Garden City Community College in Kansas before joining the Bucs.
Man in the mirror
Earlier on Monday at the weekly ETSU conference with local media, which was streamed live on Facebook, Healy and attending players DE Charles Woodard and OL Maddox Radcliffe talked about bouncing back from the loss to the Camels.
“We did not get the result that we wanted, but it is not time to panic and everybody’s got to look themselves in the mirror and say, what can I do differently? And if we do, we’ll be just fine,” Healy said.
Woodard, who arrived in the spring as a transfer out of junior college, shared that “man in the mirror” is a popular saying within the football building at ETSU.
“That was kind of a big takeaway from him is, you know, what could we have done to win this game?” Woodard said. “We were talented enough in that game, no doubt in my mind. I think we did kind of give that one away. And it’s just having a sense of urgency to fix those mistakes.”
ETSU yielded 49 points on 573 yards of offense, with QB Kamden Sixkiller generating 438 total yards of offense (343 rushing, 95 passing) and four touchdowns. Sixkiller has been named the Colonial Athletic Association Offensive Player of the Week and the Stats Perform FCS National Offensive Player of the Week for his performance at the expense of the Bucs.
“It’s no secret the fact that that’s not championship level defense,” Healy said at his weekly press conference. “You know, we can’t give up those type of statistics and expect to do what we want to do.”
Healy shared that when the team gathered to watch film from the Campbell loss, he asked his players to raise their hand if they felt ETSU lacked the talent to win that game.
No hands went up.
“The beauty of it is the fact that talent doesn’t necessarily win you championships. And we saw that on Saturday,” Healy said. “We’ve got to be disciplined, we’ve got to got to do our job. I think that the beauty of it is everything that you challenge your guys with during camp with what your culture is made of and what you’re built for, now, truly has to show up. Right? It’s not just if you win game one. It’s what happens when.
“Our first impression for our fans, our first impression for our media, our first impression for everybody involved was not great. We’re 0-1. I am 0-1 as a head coach. And so we’ve got stuff that we need to fix because we’re going to play really good football teams the rest of the way, including this week. And so now who are you? Right? … That’s what I love about this opportunity. Nobody wants to come to a press conference after a loss. … Nobody wants to go do the radio show after a loss. To me, this is like, this is what we’re built for. And my excitement about this team, my thoughts on what this team could do have not changed a bit. It only confirmed them watching the film on Sunday. And that’s not just trying to give some kind of positive rah-rah speech. These guys are talented enough to do whatever the heck they want to do if they will stick together and buy into getting it fixed.”
Looking ahead
The Bucs get back in action this Saturday, hosting Division II Tusculum College at William B. Greene Stadium. Kickoff is set for 5:30 p.m. There are plenty of ETSU ties in the Tusculum program. Current Pioneers head coach Billy Taylor served as defensive coordinator at ETSU for nine seasons before taking the Tusculum job in December of 2023. Several other Tusculum staffers worked for ETSU. Defensive coordinator Teddy Gaines, a Kingsport native, spent six years as safeties coach under Taylor at ETSU. Defensive line coach Dwight Evans and tight ends coach Reed Smith also previously worked for the Bucs.
Former ETSU players on the Tusculum roster include receiver Javon Richardson; specialist Quinton Brandon, a Greeneville native; linebacker Cameron Garnett; and specialist Nathan Holbrook.