Tag: Mike Norvell

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Sports Tiger Blue

Tigers 43, Kansas 7

CREDIT: Larry Kuzniewski

Rock, chalk, cake walk.

There was irony in the Tigers’ thorough man-handling of Kansas Saturday afternoon at the Liberty Bowl. The University of Memphis — along with virtually its entire fan base — continues to aspire admission into one of college football’s elite “Power Five” conferences. One of those leagues, of course, is the Big 12, longtime home to KU. But the Jayhawk football team, let it be said, displays nothing that remotely suggests “power.” Woody Allen would appreciate the blurred standard between the club of Big 12 schools and one that would boast Kansas football as a member.

Larry Kuzniewski

Riley Ferguson

Memphis quarterback Riley Ferguson connected with Anthony Miller for an 84-yard touchdown along the left sideline just over four minutes into the game and the rout was on. Two Jake Elliott field goals and a Doroland Dorceus touchdown run of six yards made the score 19-0 two minutes into the second quarter. The Jayhawks’ only highlight of the contest came on a 66-yard dash by Khalil Herbert with 12:28 to play before halftime. But the Tigers responded with two more touchdowns before the break, one a Ferguson-to-Phil Mayhue timing route in the right corner of the end zone and then a 61-yard interception return by freshman defensive lineman Jonathan Wilson. 

Among the Jayhawks’ ten first-half possessions, they had four three-and-out “drives,” three lost fumbles, and the Wilson interception. It was as ugly as football often is at basketball schools. But it counts in the win column and gives Memphis consecutive 2-0 starts for the first time since the 2003 and 2004 seasons.

“We were coming off a bye week, and we’ve practiced 38 times,” said Tiger coach Mike Norvell in opening his postgame press conference. “You can try and simulate the game, but you really can’t get to that point until you kick it off. We talked a lot about starting fast. The defense did an incredible job; totally dominated. We got beaten on one unique play; they got us. Six take-aways. That’s who we want to be as a football team. I was really pleased by the way the guys worked.”

Larry Kuzniewski

Anthony Miller

When asked if the Tiger offense had made progress since the opener two weeks ago, Norvell noted the larger impact of his running game. “We ran the ball better, and it showed up. There are still some things we have to correct. Our tempo is not where it needs to be, [not fast enough]. I don’t think we protected as well as we can. We’re playing a lot of young faces. It’s probably where we should be [at this stage of the season].” Ferguson was sacked five times and Kansas had ten tackles behind the line of scrimmage.

The Tigers gained 205 yards on the ground (much of it after the game was decided as a clock-eating device) and 189 through the air. Freshman Patrick Taylor led the running game with 88 yards on 13 carries. (Fellow freshman Darrell Henderson was sidelined with an illness.) Miller caught five passes for 93 yards.

Freshman linebacker Austin Hall and junior safety Jonathan Cook led the Memphis defense with eight tackles each, two of Hall’s coming in the Jayhawk backfield. Senior defensive tackle Michael Edwards recovered two Kansas fumbles. Norvell said he hopes his defense can achieve a form of swagger, that the combination of fundamentals, technique, and belief in the system could distinguish the group.

“I want these guys to push,” said Norvell. “I want them to be the best they’ve ever been. You have to put guys in adverse situations. The game of football is so wonderful; you see the highs and the lows. How do you respond? Today it was the defense. The defense had to step up after some miscues by the offense.”

Ferguson agreed with his coach, that there’s work to do in achieving the offense’s desired tempo. “We need to make sure we’re getting the signals faster from the sideline,” said the junior quarterback after completing 15 of his 24 passes. “That’s mostly on me, making sure the linemen are down, getting us going. There were times the defense was tired. We could have gone faster.”

The early connection with Miller sparked Ferguson, and he suggests there’s more to come. “I just put it up where he could go get it,” said Ferguson. “He made an unbelievable play. Since I’ve been here, Anthony and I have had a really good connection, going all the way back to spring. We’ve built on that. It’s going to get even better.”

The Tigers return to the Liberty Bowl next Saturday night to host Bowling Green. The Falcons (1-2) lost to Middle Tennessee (at home) today, 41-21

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Cover Feature News

Tiger Football 2016: A Norvell Approach

The University of Memphis football program is auditioning. Surely you’ve heard the whispers — loud as sirens — that the Big 12 Conference is evaluating expansion. One of the fabled “Power Five” conferences that award member schools the largest stacks of TV and sponsorship revenue, the Big 12 has had but 10 members since Missouri and Texas A & M departed for the SEC before the 2013-14 academic year. In the interest of gaining ground — particularly when it comes to revenue — on college football’s other conference titans (SEC, ACC, Big Ten, and Pac 12), the Big 12 is accepting hugs and kisses from schools desperate to land one of possibly four (but at least two) invitations for membership.

This, friends, is the U of M’s last, best chance to become a member of the NCAA’s ruling elite. (At least until further expansion creates “Super-Power Conferences.” Just wait. It’ll happen.) And qualifications for this form of exclusivity are wrapped in and around football. So consider the 2016 Tiger season a 12-game (hopefully 13-game) casting call. In the spirit of the league Memphis is pursuing, here are 12 storylines to follow.

Mike Norvell promises fast-playing Tigers this season.

Missing Pieces: Let’s get this out of the way. Several familiar (and historically significant) names from the 2015 season are no longer on the Tiger roster. Quarterback Paxton Lynch — a first-round NFL draft pick — has essentially taken Peyton Manning’s spot on the roster of the Super Bowl champions. Also gone are an all-conference tight end (Alan Cross), all-conference tackle (Taylor Fallin), a pair of Lynch’s favorite targets (Mose Frazier and Tevin Jones), and a running back who finished second on the team last season with 389 rushing yards (Jarvis Cooper). And, oh yeah, coach Justin Fuente — architect of the most significant turnaround in the program’s history — is now the boss at Virginia Tech. To act as though the 2016 Tiger season will be merely a continuation of last year’s success would be to insult the legacy of these departed difference-makers. The hope must be that the bar has been raised and secured high enough for new difference-makers to emerge.

A Golden Era Is Upon Us (Maybe): The Tigers won more games over the last two seasons (19) than in any other two-year period since football was first played by the U of M in 1912. With seven wins this season, a new standard would be established for a three-year period. (The Tigers won 25 games from 1961 through 1963.) College football absolutely drips with the words “tradition rich.” There are programs, sadly, that are tradition poor. Success has been infrequent and scattered over the 104 years Memphis has suited up a football team. What we’re seeing these days — remember that 15-game winning streak and beat-down of Ole Miss? — is the closest the Tiger program has come to the dawn of a significant era. Can it be golden?

The Tigers gear up for a (with hard work and a little luck) successful season.

The Norvell Way: Filling a departed coach’s shoes has not been difficult, historically, at Memphis. Typically it’s more like flip-flops, with a broken strap. But following Fuente will be different. Mike Norvell is the youngest of 128 coaches in FBS. At age 34 (he turns 35 in October), he’s less than two years older than DeAngelo Williams. The list of former wide receivers (like Norvell) who have found success as head coaches is a short one. But you’ve heard of Bear Bryant. (Hall of Famer Raymond Berry took the New England Patriots to Super Bowl XX; we’ll ignore the result.) Norvell insists his Tigers will play fast, particularly on offense where he built his credentials as a coordinator under Todd Graham, most recently at Arizona State.

“We’re gonna push the pedal to the metal, play as fast as we can,” Norvell says. “The way we practice and train, everything we do is focused on tempo. It’s an offense built for playmakers, and we have some guys here who can be very impactful.”

Among the playmakers Norvell considers integral this fall are tailbacks Doroland Dorceus (698 yards as a sophomore last year) and Darrell Henderson (a freshman), multipurpose threat Sam Craft (back from the basketball court), and receivers Anthony Miller and Phil Mayhue. With a pair of veterans — Trevon Tate and Gabe Kuhn — manning the tackle positions up front, the Tiger offense has the potential for star power. But if it’s going to approach 40 points a game (like the 2015 edition), a rookie will lead the way.

Paxton Who? “When I got here,” says Norvell, “I told the guys, if there’s one position I’ll guarantee competition, it’s quarterback.” Junior-college transfer Riley Ferguson — a member of the Tennessee program in 2013 — took the lead last spring in the Tigers’ quarterback derby, and last week Norvell named him the starter for Saturday’s opener.

Ferguson has size (6’4″, 190 lbs.) and put up solid numbers last fall at Coffeyville (KS) Community College: 67.8 completion percentage, 326.9 yards per game, and 35 touchdowns. As Norvell puts it, the Memphis quarterback will be “the guy who can truly manage the offense . . . play within the system.”

Ferguson is blessed with arm strength — a must at this level — but it’s a more intangible quality that has impressed his coach. “He came in and had a really nice mentality in how he positioned himself with the team,” Norvell says. “Guys like him as a person, but when he’s on the field, it’s all business.”

And why exactly is Ferguson a Memphis Tiger? “[Norvell] is a young coach, and I feel like I connected with him,” says Ferguson, who had been disappointed with his options after Coffeyville until Memphis swept in. “I felt I could be open with him and tell him my story, what I’ve been through. When he showed me the offense, that made me love [Memphis] even more. There’s nothing a defense can do to stop it. The only time the defense can be right is if I make a wrong read or they bring a pressure we can’t pick up. Based on the read-aspect of the offense, it’s unstoppable. And very fast.”

Fill Those Seats! While the Tigers were winning those 19 games the last two seasons, the U of M sold just under half a million tickets for 12 games at the Liberty Bowl. (465,917 to be exact, or an average of 38,826 per game.) Last year’s attendance total of 262,811 established a new record for a six-game home season, and the average attendance of 43,801 was the highest since the stadium opened in 1965.

These are great numbers by the standards of Memphis football, but they must continue to grow. With new seatback sections added, the Liberty Bowl’s capacity is now 56,862. If the program is to convince the Big 12 it’s worthy of membership, 50,000 fans on game day should not be exceptional. Consider: Last November, 55,212 fans showed up to see Memphis play Navy. (Navy! No SEC team on the other sideline.) It was the largest crowd to see a Tiger football game without an SEC foe since 1989. It’s not just the team auditioning folks.

Fall is for football, and, as the season approaches, Coach Norvell and the Tigers are pushing themselves to bring us a heaping helping of wins.

Miller Time: A year ago at this time, Fuente described wide receiver Anthony Miller as “different from anyone else we have.” And Miller had yet to catch a pass in college. As a sophomore, the pride of Christian Brothers High School hauled in 47 passes and averaged 14.7 yards per catch. He caught five touchdown passes but was one of 12 players to reach the end zone on the receiving end of a Lynch toss.

Look for Miller to be a more frequent target this season and for numbers that will capture more national attention. Ferguson has already described Miller as “the best receiver I’ve ever thrown to.” (The Memphis program has seen only one 1,000-yard receiver: Isaac Bruce in 1993.) Ferguson points to junior Phil Mayhue as another valuable target, a possession receiver who will extend drives with his route running and sure hands. When asked about Daniel Montiel, Ferguson says, “We’re gonna use the tight end a tremendous amount.”

Kickers Can Be Stars: Close football contests are often won (and lost) with the kicking game. Memphis has featured the American Athletic Conference’s Special Teams Player of the Year all three years of the league’s existence. Punter Tom Hornsey took the prize in 2013, and kicker Jake Elliott has earned the honor each of the last two seasons. Elliott and punter Spencer Smith were two of the four Tigers named first-team All-AAC after the 2015 campaign. Elliott converted 23 of 28 field-goal attempts last year (including nine of at least 40 yards), and Smith averaged 47.2 yards per punt, with 18 traveling more than 50 yards and 10 punts that pinned the Tiger opponent inside its own 10-yard line. Elliott has his sights set on the Lou Groza Award, given annually to the nation’s top kicker and first won by the U of M’s Joe Allison in 1992.

Defensive Matters: The 2015 Tigers set a program record by scoring 522 points (40.1 per game). And it’s a good thing, because the Memphis defense gave up 355 (27.3 per game), an increase of 40 percent over the previous season (253 points). This is a trend Norvell and new defensive coordinator Chris Ball would like to reverse. When asked about playmakers on the defensive side of the ball, Norvell starts with linebacker Genard Avery and safety Jonathan Cook (a transfer from Alabama).

“Genard is a very versatile player,” says Norvell, “and very explosive. He maxed out the other day with a 450-pound bench and 600-pound squat. He’s one of the strongest human beings I’ve been around. He’s moving better than ever. Arthur Maulet is a guy who can be a playmaker for us. I like our defensive front. We’ve got guys up there who can create havoc. [Defense] is our most experienced group, and they have a better sense of what they can do.”

Senior linebacker Jackson Dillon has compiled 20.5 tackles behind the line of scrimmage over his three seasons as a starter and aims to finish his college career with a third straight winning season, something that hasn’t happened at Memphis since 2003-05. “This is probably the best defense I’ve been a part of,” says Dillon. “Getting off the field after third down, that’s the biggest priority. Winning first and second down.”

Circle the Dates: The Tigers have an early bye week (Week 2) but seven home games. They travel to Ole Miss on October 1st (after beating the Rebels at home last year) and host Houston on November 25th (after losing to the Cougars last year in Texas). The top two teams in the AAC East will visit the Liberty Bowl (Temple on October 6th and USF on November 12th), but the Tigers must face Navy and Cincinnati on the road. The Tigers need a strong start and have three winnable home games to start the campaign (SEMO, Kansas, and Bowling Green).

Ground Control: With a former receiver calling the shots, count on the Memphis offense taking to the air with regularity. But even with the departures of Cooper and Jamarius Henderson (320 rushing yards last season), the Tigers’ ground attack is versatile and deep. Junior Doroland Dorceus led the team with 661 yards a year ago and ran for eight touchdowns. In many offenses, Dorceus would be a threat for 1,000 yards. But Sam Craft is back from the hardwood for his senior season, and freshman Darrell Henderson (from South Panola High School) is expected to get his share of carries. So the Tigers could match last season’s ground production (179.5 yards per game) but without a 1,000-yard rusher for a seventh consecutive season.

Four Words: Smart. Fast. Physical. Finish. These are the areas of emphasis Norvell has implemented, and they’re not all that different from the style of play Fuente preached for four seasons (and to profound success the last two years). A fast team, Novell believes, will hit harder and more often, making for a physical style that will be felt throughout a stadium.

“We judge the finish as strictly as anything in this program,” he adds. “We want to be better at the end than we are at the beginning.” A decent strategy, whether you’re measuring a half, a game, or an entire season.

Underdogs, Now and Forever: In its annual preseason poll, voters (among media) placed the Tigers third in the AAC’s West Division, behind Houston (the overwhelming favorite) and Navy. In handicapping Big 12 expansion, BYU, Cincinnati, Houston, and UConn tend to get more affection (again, among media types) than does Memphis. The underdog status is a motivator for the Tiger coaching staff and players, but not a distracting one.

“I don’t care what [the polls] say,” Dillon says. “They’re just people in suits, making suggestions. They’re not out there at practice, sweating, working.”

“It’s not unexpected,” Norvell says. “We know there are challenges in front of us. If we continue to grow as a football team, we have a great opportunity to put ourselves in a position to be a contender. Last year, we were 8-0 and in prime position but didn’t finish the way we needed to. We’ve got to build ourselves and show that we’re worthy of the respect that’s out there. There’s an anxiety. You’re anxious for the season. You’re anxious to see the development of players, how everything comes together for this specific team. I think we have a chance to do some great things.”

The beauty of college football is that we spend a long offseason and six days a week talking about what could be, what might be, or what should be. Then game day arrives, and the young men in helmets and shoulder pads actually make something happen. Perhaps a year (or two) from now, the Memphis Tigers will be picked to finish fourth or fifth in a division of a new Big 12. Or perhaps they’ll be defending another AAC championship. For now, though, there’s football to be played. A welcome season in Memphis, Tennessee.

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Editorial Opinion

Let the Sun Shine In

Who said there was nothing new under the sun? Depending on your religiosity, the answer is either the Almighty Himself or the vaguely cynical old churchman who authored the Biblical text known as “Ecclesiastes.”

In any case, now that we’ve reached a point on the calendar where the sun is more or less reliably shining, let us submit the idea to the proof test.

What’s new? Between the previous warm season and the one we’re now enjoying, the University of Memphis has acquired new coaches for its two major sports programs — football and basketball. One of the newbies is Tubby Smith, who won an NCAA basketball championship at Louisville some years ago and who, as recently as last season, was named “Coach of the Year” for his work at Texas Tech. Considering that, only weeks before Smith was snagged, UM’s basketball program seemed incurably bogged down, with two straight seasons without a post-season tournament for the Tigers and a contract with then Coach Josh Pastner that had come to seem over-endowed (to many disappointed boosters, anyhow), Smith’s acquisition does indeed seem to make the sun shine brighter.

And, on the football side, there’s new coach Mike Norvell, the former offensive coordinator at Arizona State, who comes in this year to replace Justin Fuente, who, in his brief tenure, had returned the University’s football program to a measure of the sunshine it had seemed to lose in the several previous years and had won a) 19 games in a two-year span, b) a conference championship, and c) a major bowl game. Can Norvell do as well? By the reckoning of several people equipped to judge such things, Norvell’s first recruiting class may be the most promising in the nation, and, in a self-introduction of sorts to the Rotary Club of Memphis on Tuesday, the 34-year-old Norvell, the self-described “youngest head coach in college football,” certainly seemed convincing as he talked up his team as a family and promised to lead his young charges to the “next step” on their lives and to “excellence on the field, in the classroom, and in the community.”

A tall order, maybe, but even in making his case, Norvell lit up the room. It is easy to imagine him doing the same on the practice field.

And sometimes old wine comes in new bottles and seems the riper and better for it. At the very time that political figures in Tennessee and various presidential candidates in the nation at large have been urging a revision of our criminal justice system, here comes what we judge to be a bright new idea from former Memphis schools superintendent, former Memphis mayor, former charter-school entrepreneur Willie Herenton, who two weeks ago proposed an innovative scheme to house youthful offenders in pleasant, rehab-focused local surroundings, near their homes and loved ones, rather than in far-off, menacing penal institutions that double as crime schools.

Worth a try, we say, and, best yet, Herenton, who hopes for official state support, isn’t asking local taxpayers to foot the bill.

Let the sun shine in: That’s not exactly a new idea, but it’s still a good one.

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Memphis Preps Blog Sports

Mario Reed: Fighting to Get Back Up

Mario Reed is on the rise, both literally and figuratively. Reed gained attention in Shelby County back on September 12, 1997. He was a Millington Central High School football player, making what he thought was a routine tackle on a kickoff return. After the collision, he heard his teammates and his coaches shout to him to get up. But he couldn’t. “I couldn’t move,” he remembers. “I could only feel the wind in my face.”

Reed was told he would never have movement from his neck down. “I was going to be like Christopher Reeve,” he says, referring to the late actor who played Superman and later became a quadriplegic after a horse riding accident.

University of Memphis football Coach Mike Norvell and Mario Reed

“I’m a fighter,” Reed says. “You tell me I can’t do it and I want to prove I can do it.” More than 13 surgeries later, with a total commitment from Reed and his family, he continues to prove his initial diagnosis wrong. After nerve transfer surgery, Reed now has feeling and movement in both of his arms.
He says he’s not done. He has several goals in life. His ultimate goal is to do what he hasn’t done since the football accident: “Goal number one is to walk,” he says. “If I can take a step on my own, then my dream will be fulfilled.”
He hopes to have the nerve transfer surgery in his legs. He knows success is not a given.

For now, Reed is at least once again upright, thanks to the standing-power wheelchair he received April 11, the day before his 34th birthday. “It allows me to stand. I can lay back and stretch my legs out. It has 30 motions.”
The best feature is not is included in the manual: “I can talk to people eye-to-eye,” he says. “It makes me feel like I’m standing on my own two feet.”

Because of his new device, Reed was excited to attend the Memphis Chapter National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame Scholar Athlete Dinner, where he was one of the guest speakers. But the weekend before the dinner, he broke his ankle transferring from his chair to his lift.

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Still, he showed up at the dinner to give out the award named in his honor: The Mario Reed Courage Award is given annually to the athlete or sports figure who has demonstrated the fortitude to overcome adversity. “It’s an honor to have an award named after me,” he says. “I have an award to present someone. It shows that life can throw you a curve ball, but never give up.”

Harold Graeter, a board member with the foundation agrees. “He’s a special guy,” says Graeter. “He goes through years of therapy. He goes back to Millington Central and graduates. He spends times volunteering. He is the perfect example of what courage is.”

Shon Coleman, a former St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and Auburn football star who was drafted in April by the Cleveland Browns, is this year’s courage award winner.

Some of Reed’s other goals include directing a youth center and raising paralysis awareness. He’s working to do the former by volunteering at the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Memphis. He hopes to achieve the latter through his non-profit, the Mario Reed Foundation. He is also producing a documentary about his life.

Categories
Sports Tiger Blue

Q & A: Mike Norvell

CREDIT: Courtesy U of M Athletics

The University of Memphis football team will play its annual spring game — Friday Night Stripes — this Friday at the Liberty Bowl. It will be the first public appearance at his new home stadium (with his team on display) for Tiger coach Mike Norvell. I sat down recently with the first-year coach to talk football, future, and first impressions.

Welcome to Memphis. What are your first impressions of the city you now call home?
I had a pretty good sense of the community from visiting [Norvell played college ball at Central Arkansas]. Making the transition to living here, it’s been everything I hoped it would be. Whether it’s going out to eat, visiting various establishments in the community, going to Overton Square . . . what they’ve done downtown is incredible. The growth and direction the city is going, I’m so proud to be a part of it. You see it here at the University of Memphis as a school. 

Are you recognized in public? Or is there still a degree of anonymity?
That’s one of the neat things. You see the excitement in the community, walking down the street and hearing, “Go Tigers!” I don’t take that lightly. We know who we represent, that we’re recognized in this city. It makes us proud. We’ll continue to set a high standard for how we do things.
Courtesy U of M Athletics


There must be some cultural differences between the program you left (Arizona State) and the U of M. What has come across as distinctive since you arrived?
The place where I came from, no one is truly from there. A lot of move-ins. People here are proud of where we’re from. A lot of people have been born and raised here, a lot of people have graduated from the University of Memphis. There’s a tremendous amount of support. Not just support of a program, but support of a community. We want to see a university that is showcased, and a city that is showcased nationally. It’s more personal [here] and that’s what I’m about. I’m about relationships. You have to fit a place. My wife and I were talking the other day, and I told her I’m not sure I’ve ever been more comfortable living in a place than I have been the last five months in Memphis.

Since you arrived, you’ve emphasized “fit” and “family.” How do you recognize a good fit for the program? Is it immediate or can it be developed?
It’s built over time. I have a strong belief in where this program can go, and what we can do with this opportunity. The number-one criteria for every staff member I brought in . . . I want a heart-led coach. I want somebody who will emphasize strong relationships, strong bonds. If you’re not working to impact your players on a personal level, you’ll only get them to go so far. Every prospect we bring in, we’re looking to see how they fit within our team: their personality, their goals, their aspirations. Recruiting doesn’t start and end in one day; it’s a long process. They think they’re evaluating us. There’s only one way to build a relationship and that’s through time. We’re trying to maximize every moment to identify the best fit for us. It’s a challenge, but it’s a rewarding feeling . . . to see them have that success, and not just on the football field but for the next 15, 20 years of their lives.

How quickly can a new head coach bond with his players? As early as the first spring camp?
I have a 22-month-old daughter [Mila]. Every day, I’m building that relationship. What I do formulates the relationship we’ll have the rest of our lives. I want the Memphis football team to look like a family. That’s why I’m in coaching. We’re helping grow young men. A good number of the players on this team did not come from a two-parent home. This is the first time they’re living away from home. The decisions they make over the next four or five years will impact the rest of their lives. To be able to give them guidance and structure . . . . We all have different upbringings, but I try and emphasize three core values: service, sacrifice, and respect.

My number-one job as head coach is to serve our football team. By providing them with structure. We’ve got to have a standard: academically, socially, the decisions we make. The key to the service is accountability. 

When you walk into our locker room, every guy, in the back of his locker, has a picture of the most important people in their lives, those who have helped get them to this point. We look at these pictures every single day for about 30 seconds. The reason those people are up on the wall is because they sacrificed. The only reason you sacrifice for anything in this world is because you love it. I love this game. We have to sacrifice for each other. It’s a key component of family.

And the last thing is respect. We have to show respect. I want to show respect in relationships, how we present ourselves, the way we walk and talk. All those things are important. You never know what your first impression is going to mean. We won’t be perfect, by any means, but we want to make sure we have a high standard. When one of my players asks me a question, I’m going to answer, ‘Yes sir, no sir.’ If I show them respect, hopefully they’ll see me worthy of receiving respect. So many people today think they should demand respect at the beginning. I believe you have to show it before you can receive it.

What are your impressions of the squad to date, starting with the offense?
We’re gonna push the pedal to the metal, play as fast as we can. The way we practice and train, everything we do is focused on tempo. It’s an offense built for playmakers. And we have some guys here who can be very impactful. Our job as coaches is to put them in positions that will highlight all their skills and talents.

[Wide receiver] Anthony Miller and Trevon Tate up on the offensive line, [wide receiver] Phil Mayhue, our running backs, Sam Craft and Doroland Dorceus. Darrell Henderson is a true freshman [running back], an early enrollee that I don’t think a lot of people know about and he’s been a standout in spring practice. 

We’ll take what the defense gives us. We’ll be balanced. We’ll try and establish the run, but if the defense tries to take that away, we’ll be balanced and take what they give us. We have to be efficient at both [the running game and passing game].

Tell us about the quarterback position; big shoes to fill. 
Yeah, literally. [Junior college transfer] Riley Ferguson has done a great job of coming to this team and jumping in with both feet. Our guys have been really drawn to him. We have Jason Stewart, a fifth-year senior with a lot of leadership ability. And a redshirt freshman, Brady Davis. He’s competing his tail off. He’s extremely talented. We have a true freshman coming in who I think has a chance at competing, David Moore out of Atlanta. When I got here, I told the guys, if there’s one position I’ll guarantee competition, it’s quarterback.

What will be the trait that earns a quarterback the starting job?
The guy that can truly manage the offense. Our quarterback has to make us go. If you have an offense built for playmakers, he has to be the key playmaker. Take what the defense gives you, play within the system. Guys who can extend plays against different blitz packages. Mobility is a factor, but I’m not looking at a certain 40 time. Most people would say Tom Brady and Peyton Manning aren’t mobile, but they know how to extend plays.

What should fans expect from your defense? Lots of players returning.
Last year was a very young team that I thought improved as the season moved along. We’ve signed some playmakers there. We were able to sign Jonathan Cook, a dynamic safety. We have a lot of experience in the back end. We’re excited about our depth in the defensive front. We’ll base out of four down linemen, with some flexibility. [Linebacker] Genard Avery has a chance to be an impact player. We’re looking at competition at some spots.

We want to be an impactful defense. We want to lead the country in takeaways, force negative plays that lead to three-and-outs. We need to be great on third down and a top defense in the red zone. We’re gonna focus on recruiting speed.


With your background as an offensive coordinator, are you comfortable coaching defense?
I know what I don’t like to see [as an offensive coordinator]. I know things that are difficult to go against. Coach [Chris] Ball will run the defense. When you play good defense, it makes everything better. I’ll try to be a sounding board for him.

What was your favorite team and player growing up?
I grew up about a mile-and-a-half from Texas Stadium. I’d walk over to the stadium about three hours before [games on Sunday] and watch the Cowboys walk through the tunnel. Troy Aikman. Michael Irvin. There were a lot of championships being won. That was the team I most followed.

Do you remember when you caught the coaching bug? When did you begin considering this as a career?
When I was in 7th grade. Coaches have been some of the most impactful people in my life. David Reese in Pop Warner. We still have a relationship today. Mike Barber in high school. He was a former NFL player. I’d stay with him so many nights a week. He was a tremendous mentor. They held me to a certain set of values. I hope the young men who play for me one day look at me the same way I look at my former coaches. I believe that would be a job well done. The impact they had goes much further than what I did on the football field. I didn’t want to let them down. Being that mentoring figure is a huge job and an important responsibility. If you took relationships out of football, I promise you I’d quit tomorrow.

Your predecessor took this program to heights it had never reached before. Is this intimidating at all, or motivating?

It’s funny. When I got here people were telling me, ‘Coach, you’re taking on a job with high expectations.’ My response has always been that I wouldn’t have taken this job if there weren’t those expectations. When I sat down with [U of M president] David Rudd, [athletic director] Tom Bowen, and Brad Martin, there was an excitement about this opportunity. I’ve always believed in what Memphis can become. Justin [Fuente] and his staff did a great job of developing a culture of winning, but we still have not achieved all the goals we’ve set out as a program.

We’ve used the motto of taking the next step. Every player, every coach . . . we want to take the next step. The only way to accomplish that is to focus on today, being the best I’ve ever been. Focus on the opportunity in front of me. It’s gonna take everybody to get where we want to go. The expectations all have to rise. You had games last year that came down to one play. That’s the nature of football. We’ve seen a glimpse of greatness, but we still haven’t accomplished our goals.