There’s a question University of Memphis football coach Tommy West
doesn’t exactly relish answering: “Is the Tiger program where it should
be?” West isn’t the squirming type, but after eight years at the helm
of a football program still seeking its first Conference USA
championship, the question forces this otherwise decisive man to
deliberate, at least mildly.
“I don’t know if you’re ever satisfied as a coach,” West says,
coming off a 6-7 campaign that saw his Tigers lose to South Florida in
the St. Petersburg Bowl. “You always want more. I’m proud of what we’ve
accomplished here. It had been 27 years since we’d had a 7-win season,
and we’ve had four of them in the last six years. And you can’t take
bowl appearances for granted, because I’ll tell you who hasn’t been to
five in the last six years: Arkansas, Ole Miss, Mississippi State,
Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Tennessee. So we’re doing something that not
everyone else is.
“The next step is to compete for a championship. I wanted to be a
consistent bowl team first, and we are. I started two years ago, trying
to prepare to compete for a [conference] championship. It’s a dog
fight.”
Among the primary challenges in steering a college-football ship is
the sheer number of moving parts. A roster that includes around 100
athletes must be divided into cohesive units (offensive line,
linebackers, secondary, etc.) that must then cohere in the larger units
(offense, defense, special teams) that determine the course the ship
will take over three months and 12 games. Examining the 2009 Memphis
Tigers, West is convinced his units — measured individually
— are as strong as he’s had. But can they win consistently with a
schedule as tough as any in recent memory? West provides a forecast,
one unit at a time.
Offensive Line
If West has a chief concern entering this Sunday’s opener against
Ole Miss, it’s an offensive line that must replace four of five
starters from 2008. Junior Dominik Riley — a preseason
all-conference selection who can play guard or center — will
anchor the line, but the rest of the unit will be forced to grow
together and on the job.
“I’m not overly concerned,” West says, “because we’ve been here
before. This is a chemistry position, and we have to get all five of
them playing together. [Offensive line coach] Rick Mallory does a
really good job of getting them all on the same page. We are very
inexperienced.
“Dominik will be the leader of the line, no question. Malcom Rawls
has played some, so he has to be a good player for us. Brad Paul has to
be a contributor. We moved Joel McCleod from defense to guard. Ron
Leary is our right tackle, and he’s probably the most talented of all
of them. He’s a big, strong guy.” West is looking for an extra dose of
athleticism among candidates for left tackle, to handle speed
rushers.
If West isn’t worried about his starting five this fall, their
substitutes do have him scratching his head. “This is a place where we
need to stay healthy,” West says. “The depth is going to be very
inexperienced.”
Receivers
“We’re faster and stronger than we’ve ever been,” West says of his
pass-catching corps. “It’s funny how it works. At Clemson, I couldn’t
get a tall receiver. But here, we’ve just had an abundance of big, tall
wideouts. I said when I took this job, that it’s a skill job. There are
a lot of skilled players around us; linemen, now, are hard to get.”
Barring injury, Duke Calhoun and Carlos Singleton will finish their
senior season as the most accomplished receivers in Tiger history.
Calhoun needs four receptions and 66 yards to establish new U of M
records, while Singleton needs 23 catches and 266 yards to pass the
same standards. Add to the mix 6′-3″ freshman Marcus Rucker — MVP
of the Tigers’ spring game — and the Tigers will stretch the
field with the best of them in C-USA, if not the entire country. Of
Rucker, West says he has “tremendous ball skills at going up and coming
down with the ball.” If there’s a new face to watch, it’s freshman
Marcus Hightower from Whitehaven High School, who was redshirted last
season.
Running Backs
Tiger fans can be excused for considering 2009 the “Year IV A.D.”
(After DeAngelo Williams). While Williams, the reigning NFL touchdown
champion, has the Tiger fight song on his phone, his successors are
starting to earn their own stripes. Senior Curtis Steele —
another preseason all-conference pick — is coming off a campaign
in which he rushed for more yardage (1,223) than anyone in the history
of the program not named DeAngelo. And West is excited about the
flexibility the Tigers will have at the position with the arrival of
Wisconsin transfer Lance Smith.
“This is a talented group,” West says. “Curtis had a really good
year, and I expect him to have another one. Lance is our second back.
He’s a bit more shifty; he can take it 70. I hope T.J. Pitts continues
to grow. He’s a tough guy who can run the ball inside. The combination
of those three can be really good.”
Will there be enough carries to keep the trio happy? Says West, “I
talk to those guys about yards per carry. It’s not how many carries you
get, but how many yards you get with each carry. They’re good guys,
unselfish.”
Larry Kuzniewski
Duke Calhoun, Curtis Steele, and Carlos Singleton
Quarterback
“Consistency.” Ask West about what Arkelon Hall must do to improve
behind center and he offers a single word. The big (225 pounds)
quarterback had games last year when he was in command of the offensive
flow (four touchdown passes in a win at UAB) and other games where he
was searching for an elusive rhythm (15 completions in 35 attempts in a
home loss to UCF). West is hoping Hall displays the same improvement
entering his senior season that Martin Hankins showed during the 2007
campaign.
West emphasizes the importance of his quarterback not forcing
things, particularly with all the offensive weapons around him. “We’re
not asking our quarterback to win games for us,” West says. “We’re
asking him to get the ball into the hands of people who can win the
game for us. I think Arkelon understands this now. A year ago, he just
wanted to compete like crazy and win the game. But you have to have
more poise about it and let the game come to you, pick your spots to
take chances. You have to protect the ball in the red zone. Effort
doesn’t win games; intelligent effort wins games.
“I think the competition will help him,” West adds. Brett Toney,
Tyler Bass, and freshman Will Gilchrist will keep their arms warm
should Hall stumble.
Defensive Line
Seniors Jada Brown, Greg Terrell, and Steven Turner have combined to
play in 106 games (with 43 starts). As green as the offensive line may
be, the defensive front is just as seasoned, with a potential star
arriving in the form of juco transfer Justin Thompson (6′-4″, 290).
“I feel the best I’ve ever felt about our front seven,” West says.
“We’re bigger. We’ve got some new guys who can get after it. We need to
teach them to play to their roles. When you throw Justin, Tim McGee,
and Dontari Poe into the mix, we look like what we’re supposed to.”
According to West, the Tigers will situationally substitute this
season in ways they haven’t been able to in years past, thanks to the
depth up front. “We’ll have some third-down guys,” he says. “Not as
much as the NFL does, but we’ll do it some. We haven’t been able to
pressure people with four rushers, so we’ve had to bring more, and
that’s affected the entire defense. I think with the bigger guys we
have up front, we can push the pocket.”
Linebackers
West confesses to having overlooked the linebacker position on the
recruiting trail in recent years. “That’s been our Achilles’ heel,” he
says. “We haven’t been good enough at linebacker since the days of Coot
Terry (2003). We had a couple of years recruiting when we just didn’t
get enough guys at linebacker. But Winston Bowens has been here awhile
now. Jeremy Longstreet is coming into his own. Greg Jackson [another
preseason all-conference honoree] is the best player on our defense.
When you throw in [LSU transfer] Derrick Odom and [Mississippi State
transfer] Jamon Hughes, you’ve got a pretty solid group. Again, we’re
talented enough, but we’ve got to play as a group.”
West shakes his head when asked if the arrival of former SEC players
influence his returning players. “I don’t see it that way,” he says.
“Regardless of what your credentials are, you’ve got to earn your
spurs. It doesn’t matter where you signed; it’s how well you play.”
Secondary
Senior safety Alton Starr led the Tigers in tackles last year (90),
but missed spring practice while rehabbing from knee surgery. If the
offensive line is West’s chief concern when the Tigers have the ball,
his defensive backs are the biggest question mark when the opponent is
driving.
“The key to the defense is how well they play,” he stresses. “We
play a lot of man coverage. Deante’ Lamar is back at one corner, and
Torenzo Quinn will compete with Lavaris Edwards at the other corner.
D.A. Griffin will play our nickelback … you play five defensive backs
all the time in our league. He may be the free safety if we use just
four.”
Larry Kuzniewski
Tiger quarterback Arkelon Hall looks down the field.
West will rely on Kenny Ingram — his fourth defensive
coordinator in as many years — to mix and match a variety of
personalities on the defensive side of the ball and in such a way that
looks more stable than a unit under its fourth coordinator in four
years. “That’s a scary deal, because every time you change, it sets you
back,” West says. “Consistency is how you get good. That’s why I stayed
in-house [in promoting Ingram]. Kenny is not a roller-coaster
personality. He’s a tough-love guy. I call him an Old Testament guy;
don’t spare the rod. And I think that’s what this defense needs. We
have a lot of characters, some wild-horse riders. You have to know when
to jerk the reins back.”
Not to be overlooked are special teams, and West feels like a vast
improvement could come in kickoff coverage, where Memphis last year
allowed its opponent to start, on average, at the 37-yard-line. “We’ve
got more defensive players,” West says, “and that’s what makes special
teams better. They’ve got to be able to run and change directions. The
addition of [kicker] Paulo Henriques is going to help. He can kick the
ball 70 yards. Matt Reagan’s our field-goal guy, and I’m going to add
punting to his plate, so I’d like to take kickoff duties away.”
–FM
Tigers-Rebels Forecast
The last time the Memphis Tigers opened their football season
against a Top 10 foe was 1969 (a few short weeks after Woodstock), when
they lost to Archie Manning and the eighth-ranked Ole Miss Rebels,
28-3. Over the last 40 years, Memphis has opened with the Rebs 18 more
times, winning only four (1976, ’83, ’87, and ’04). History 1, Tigers
0.
Over the same 40 years, the Tigers have played 15 games against
teams ranked in the Top 10 (though none since 2001). Memphis has won
two of those: over seventh-ranked Auburn in 1975 and sixth-ranked
Tennessee in 1996. Houston Nutt’s Rebels will enter the Liberty Bowl
Sunday ranked 8th in the AP poll and 10th in the coaches’ poll. History
2, Tigers 0.
The biggest hazard for Ole Miss may be an inflated sense of self,
otherwise known as overconfidence. Quarterback Jevan Snead and center
Daverin Geralds appeared recently on the cover of Sports
Illustrated. They are considered favorites (with Alabama) for the
SEC’s Western Division title. Among the dates circled on calendars in
and around Oxford: October 10th (Alabama), October 24th (Arkansas,
Nutt’s former stomping grounds), November 14th (Tennessee), and
November 21st (LSU). September 6th? Sunday games are for tune-ups,
right? Nothing bites quite like an overlooked underdog.
History and ranking, of course, only go so far. Every member of
Tiger coach Tommy West’s squad knows Sunday’s crowd will be the largest
they see this season. Seniors like wideouts Duke Calhoun and Carlos
Singleton have lost three openers to Ole Miss. Serial drubbings will do
wonders for an athlete’s motivation. The keys for Memphis will be how
an inexperienced offensive line handles the Ole Miss blitz packages and
how tightly an untested Tiger secondary can contain the Rebel passing
game. Early touchdowns by the visitors or a few long-distance
connections before halftime could be devastating for the Tigers.
If you pick one player to watch Sunday, go with Memphis starting
quarterback Arkelon Hall. If Hall takes every snap, the Tigers will be
in the game, with a chance to win in the fourth quarter. If West calls
on a relief pitcher — Tyler Bass? Will Gilchrist? — the
Tigers will be far enough behind for some experimentation with the most
important offensive position. If you’re rooting for Memphis, you’re
hoping Hall is dripping with sweat as he leaves the field.
PREDICTION: History aside, this is a loaded Rebel team. Ole Miss 34,
Memphis 20. –FM
What a Day!
by John Branston
The first weekend in September. After months of waiting, every
red-blooded Southern man is so excited he can’t wait to don the colors
and pack up the pickup truck. There’s truly nothing like opening
weekend of … dove season.
Just kidding. The really big story involves man’s best friend making
his first appearance at a University of Memphis home football game.
Practically took an act of Congress to make it happen, but it should
pack the old stadium. Gimme a BEER STAND!
Just kidding again. The really big story is the clash of a couple of
regional powers — the U of M administration, which was divided on
beer sales, and the city of Memphis, which hopes to make more than
$200,000 this year from suds in cups.
Still kidding. The really, really big story is about a crafty
veteran signal caller who’s under fire and hoping to save his job and
his reputation with a big game on Sunday to erase, at least
temporarily, a shaky preseason performance. I’m talking, of course,
about U of M athletic director R.C. Johnson.
Ha! No more kidding. The overriding story Sunday is Sunday. College
football and Sunday afternoon go together like church and roller derby.
So now we have beer and college football on the day of rest and holy
reflection. Does anyone remember when the word “blue” went with “laws”
and not uniforms? Such is the power of television. Dangle enough money
in front of two hungry college football programs and you could play
this game at 10 a.m. in front of 12,000 people.
Oh, wait, that could seriously happen, the attendance part anyway,
especially if Memphis loses. After Ole Miss, there are no more
Southeastern Conference teams on the 2009 home schedule.
So many story lines are converging on Sunday afternoon. Will all the
sighing and moaning about the inadequacy of Liberty Bowl Memorial
Stadium result in any actual fan-friendly improvements? Will the city
of Memphis get anything for the $5 million approved this year for
stadium improvements? Will Memphis ever get into a BCS conference, live
down its basketball outlaw reputation, or build an on-campus stadium?
Will the Ole Miss Picnic in the Grove crowd party on the pavement? Can
Tommy West or anyone else truly make Memphians get over Coach Cal?
And there’s going to be a football game, too.
