The Memphis Flyer foodies visited Alchemy, the newest restaurant in Cooper-Young. Susan Ellis has the dish.
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Month: November 2011
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Alchemy
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R.C. Johnson Announces Retirement
At a press conference Monday, U of M Athletic Director R.C. Johnson announced his retirement. Frank Murtaugh was there.
Some highlights from this afternoon’s press conference at the U of M’s Hardaway Hall of Fame:
Athletic Director R.C. Johnson:
“I can’t thank Larry Porter enough for the time he gave us, the energy he gave us. All anybody can do is give their all, and Larry did that. It didn’t work out, but it wasn’t because he didn’t give everything he had.”
“I’m announcing my retirement, effective at the end of our fiscal year. It’s been a great ride, but it’s time. I recently turned 70, and I’ve been an athletic director for 33 years. My dad never really thought I had a job. But it’s time. I’m running out of ties. I also don’t want my future to take away from what we’re trying to accomplish here. I don’t want any distractions.”
“Academically, we’re at an all-time high. Fund-raising, we’re setting new records year after year. Our Ambassador’s Club is being copied by schools all across the country. Facility-wise, we’re not done. We’re going to make that better.”
“This is not my farewell address. I’ll be here for a while; we’ve got things to do.”
“A special thanks to my president [Shirley Raines]. We’ve been together ten years. That alone is remarkable in this industry.”
“To the athletic department, I say this: Whatever you do, class, dignity, and style.”
U of M president Dr. Shirley Raines:
“I’ve decided to use a search firm that specializes in athletics. We’re reviewing search firms right now and we’ll announce a firm as soon as possible. In addition, I’ve appointed a search committee to be chaired by Brad Martin, former chairman of the board of visitors, and Willie Gregory from the Nike Corporation.”
“The search committee will work with the search firm to narrow down the candidates and interview the finalists. The time line is to complete the search as soon as possible, but to allow the search firm time to vet the candidates, especially the finalists.”
“Since R.C. has announced his retirement at or near the end of the fiscal year, we will begin the process for the search [for a new athletic director] in the spring semester. We’ll use much the same process as for the coach search, with a search firm and an appointed search committee.”
“If the search committee seeks R.C.’s advice, he will provide any information they seek. Most importantly, he will work to make a smooth transition for the new coach and, eventually, the new athletic director.”
Are there terms released on Coach Porter’s buyout?
Raines: “Not at this time. The university will honor its contractual arrangement. That’s a question for legal counsel.”
How committed is the university to going after a new coach who will galvanize the whole community? This could be a big dollar figure.
Raines: “I’m not going to give you a dollar figure, but we are committed to getting the best possible coach for this community. We will hire a search firm to find the next head coach to do what needs to get done, in terms of recruiting and winning.”
What will a new head coach get in terms of resources that past coaches may not have had?
Raines: “Our coaches gave gotten a great deal of resources over the last few years. We’ve added to the travel budget for recruitment purposes. We’ve added to facilities, and there are more additions to the football facilities. The best recruitment is having fans, alumni, and a city that cares about football. We want to communicate that as much as possible.”
What do you see as the biggest challenges for the next coach of the football team?
Raines: “Obviously recruiting. And getting the interest of fans back to football. That’s what we need to accomplish.”
If a coaching candidate has an issue with not knowing who his athletic director will be, how do you address that?
Raines: “We’ll have an orientation and transition period with our present A.D. When we select the new A.D. in the spring, [the new coach] will have some input like the rest of the people in this room. Not to select the new A.D., but certainly input.”
How does the coaching change impact current recruiting for the football program?
Johnson: “There’s always a question about holding onto your commitments. But that’s the case with every sport until they actually sign, regardless [of the coaching situation].”
When exactly did you decide to make the coaching change?
Johnson: “I talked to a lot of the people in this room, to get their opinions. It’s never a vote, but it’s always a discussion. I want to hear from the administration, the donors, the fan base.”
Did social media [and negative commentary] play a role in your decision?
Johnson: “No. You gotta do what you gotta do. There’s never a good time [to retire]. If it wasn’t now, it would be later, and there would be something else going on.”
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Starry Nights at Shelby Farms
The Christmas light extravaganza Starry Nights is back for another season.
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Memphis Cops Deliver Baby
Two Memphis Police officers got a little hands-on training in obstetrics Sunday night after delivering a baby boy in Binghampton. Bianca Phillips has the story.
Two Memphis Police officers got a little hands-on training in obstetrics Sunday night after delivering a baby boy in Binghampton.
Officers Melanie Medlock and James Dolan were leaving the scene of a domestic disturbance call in the Chickasaw Oaks apartments around 11 p.m. when they noticed a woman on the ground near 221 East Red Oak.
They were advised that the 26-year old was in labor and needed an ambulance. But they quickly realized the baby wasn’t waiting on an ambulance. The two officers placed the woman in their patrol car, and Medlock put on a pair of gloves. As her partner held a flashlight, Medlock delivered the baby boy. The umbilical cord was wrapped around the baby’s neck, but Medlock was able to displace the cord. He was delivered with no injuries.
The mother and her baby were transported to St. Francis Hospital for follow-up care.
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Porter’s Gone. What’s Next?
Frank Murtaugh takes a long look at the football situation at the University of Memphis.
If there was any debate on whether or not the U of M should retain football coach Larry Porter, it went something like this:
• KEEP HIM — There’s a standard thought among college administrators, boosters, casual fans, and even media types when a new coach is hired to rebuild a struggling football program: “You gotta give him three or four years.” Turning around a football program goes beyond a single prize recruit, or a single prize recruiting class. Even with Porter’s reputation as a recruiting star during his days as an assistant at LSU, the Tigers had reached a depth that will require two or three solid recruiting classes and, importantly, the seasoning of those classes before it will show on the scoreboard on fall Saturdays. So why the panic after just two years?
This year’s seniors and juniors — those who didn’t transfer to the U of M — were all recruited by Tommy West. A talent divide on both sides of the ball hamstrung Porter, but it’s not entirely of his doing. Six of 11 defensive starters in the home finale against Marshall were West recruits. (Somewhat tellingly, only three of the offensive starters that night preceded Porter.) The second-year coach did what he could to get his players on the field, most obviously with freshman quarterback Taylor Reed. He’s started freshmen at receiver (Kevin Wright), offensive tackle (Al Bond), and cornerback (Bobby McCain). Perhaps these will be the stars of a competitive Tiger team in 2012 and 2013. Are they to be coached by someone who didn’t recruit them?
Once a Memphis team is built around three or four Larry Porter recruiting classes, he could be fairly judged on the team’s performance and progress. But that requires a bit more patience, however uncomfortable for a slump-shouldered fan base.
• DUMP HIM — About that fan base. Let’s forget that fewer than 3,000 fans showed up to watch the Tigers play Marshall in their home finale on November 17th. It’s been a rotten season (again), it was a cold night, and the game was on television (for those prepared to endure another loss, but in the warmth of their living room). The most damaging figure from that last home game of Larry Porter’s second season was 15,105, the number of tickets sold. For a team playing in a stadium that will seat as many as 60,000, one that has seen crowds that average more than 30,000 as recently as 2006, the ticket sales for that UAB game were pitiful. Consider that 16,294 tickets were sold to see the Tiger basketball team two days earlier. For a game played in the middle of the day . . . on a Tuesday! There are Tiger sports fans more inclined to skip work and watch the basketball team than to pay to watch the football team when off the clock. It’s an ugly contrast.
- Larry Kuzniewski
- Larry Porter
Those ticket-buyers who skipped the UAB contest missed a good game, one of the few Memphis played competitively into the fourth quarter under Porter. With last weekend’s drubbing by Southern Miss, the Tigers lost 14 games by at least 20 points in Porter’s two seasons at the helm. The defense gave up more than 40 points 13 times. The offense scored fewer than 20 points 17 times. These are grotesque numbers to football fans, and really the only ones that matter. If the Tigers’ final record of 2-10 is considered progress on Porter’s 1-11 inaugural campaign, were Memphis fans prepared for 3-9 next fall?
If there was any debate, it was one-sided. Within hours of the season-ending loss in Hattiesburg (if not before), Memphis athletic director R.C. Johnson had seen enough. In a release Sunday morning, Johnson said, “The expectations for the 2011 season were to see marked improvement in the team. Now that the season has been completed, I do not feel that we have seen enough improvement for the future to justify keeping this football staff in place for another year.”
So the search begins (again) for a coach to build a weak-sister football program into one that might attract the eyes of a BCS league. If there’s a bigger challenge for a college football coach in America, find it. The challenge for the U of M administration, of course, is convincing a coach — he’s somewhere out there — that taking the Tiger job is a step up the career ladder. Not since Fred Pancoast departed after the 1974 season has a Memphis football coach left with a winning record.
Is Houston Nutt the guy? Having left Arkansas and Ole Miss, it would seem Nutt would be taking another step down the ladder of Mid-South football prestige by taking the U of M job. Mike Leach? His record at Texas Tech is remarkable (10 straight winning seasons in the middle of Longhorn country), but if he’s Candidate A, why hasn’t he been coaching the last two seasons? In the December issue of Memphis magazine, my colleague John Branston advocates for Arkansas State coach Hugh Freeze. If there was one game during the brief Porter era that established where exactly the Tiger program sits, it was the 47-3 evisceration at the hands of ASU a little over two months ago. Freeze probably has a handle on the Memphis weaknesses.
At a press conference today, Johnson is expected to announce his imminent retirement. Which begs the question: Who will be in charge of hiring Porter’s successor? (The new football coach may turn out to be merely the second most important hire by the athletic department over the next year.) President Shirley Raines will obviously play a big role. There are local powers with various proximity to the football program that have an interest in seeing the program become what a still-loyal fan base believes it can. One told me Sunday, “The University of Memphis fan base is a very good one — underestimated and underappreciated. I have been surprised how resilient and loyal the fans have been in spite of the lack of commitment and poor decisions over the years.”
Firing a rebuilding coach after just two years all but wipes out any player development under that coach. A disturbing thought until you consider those players were “developing” by losing 21 of 24 football games. The first words to greet Larry Porter’s successor should be, “Welcome aboard.” The next words: “Take a deep breath.”
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The Grizzlies are Back
The Memphis Grizzlies will soon be back in action, and so is the best NBA writer in town — Chris Herrington.