Tag: Tommy West

Categories
Sports Tiger Blue

Memphis Tigers’ Bowl History

CREDIT: U of M Athletics

As you stock the cooler for Monday’s Miami Beach Bowl, enjoy this refresher on the Memphis Tigers’ bowl history.

NOTE: The undefeated (10-0) Tigers of 1938 received an invitation to play in the Prune Bowl (yes, it was held in California), but declined when bowl officials were unable to cover the team’s travel costs. This was the Great Depression, after all.

1956 BURLEY BOWL
The Tigers went 4-4-1 in the regular season and won a pair of shutouts before falling to Ole Miss in their season finale. They traveled to Johnson City, Tennessee, to face East Tennessee State on Thanksgiving day. The Tigers scored three touchdowns in the third quarter (two of them by Eddie Gebara) to pull away. You won’t find many first-person accounts of this game. The crowd was estimated to be 700 people. It was cold.
Tigers 32, East Tennessee State 12

1971 PASADENA BOWL
The Tigers were invited to this bowl by virtue of their Missouri Valley Conference championship. Their regular-season record was 4-5-1, but they were 3-1 in league play. The game was played in the Rose Bowl (on December 18th) but attracted merely 15,244 fans. Tailback Dornell Harris was the Tiger star with 87 rushing yards and a second-quarter touchdown. This was the last game on the sidelines — and 91st win — for Memphis coach Spook Murphy.
Tigers 28, San Jose State 9

2003 NEW ORLEANS BOWL
A 32-year drought ended in fine fashion for the Tiger program despite the absence of sophomore sensation DeAngelo Williams (sidelined by an injury). North Texas scored first, but Tiger quarterback Danny Wimprine led three scoring drives before halftime to give Memphis the lead for good. The Louisiana native completed 17 of 23 passes for 254 yards and a touchdown to earn MVP honors. The win was the Tigers’ ninth of the season, the program’s most in 40 years.
Tigers 27, North Texas 17

2004 GMAC BOWL
The Tigers earned a bid to this bowl (played in Mobile, Alabama) with an 8-3 regular season. Bowling Green scored five first-half touchdowns, but the Tigers answered with four of their own, including a 31-yard scamper by Williams to make the score 35-28 at halftime. But Memphis didn’t score again until late in the fourth quarter, the game having been decided. Williams ran for 120 yards and Wimprine passed for 324 in his final game with the Tigers.
Bowling Green 52, Tigers 35

Stephen Gostkowski

2005 MOTOR CITY BOWL
Ford Field made for quite a setting, considering the Super Bowl would be played at the same venue six weeks later. DeAngelo Williams completed the greatest career in Memphis football history by rushing for 238 yards and three touchdowns to earn MVP honors. (The Tigers attempted only 14 passes.) This was also the final college game for the Tigers’ alltime leading scorer (and current New England Patriot), Stephen Gostkowski, who connected on three field goals, one from 50 yards. The win gave the Tigers a final record of 7-5.
Tigers 38, Akron 31

2007 NEW ORLEANS BOWL
The Tigers won five of their last six games after a slow start for a return to the Superdome with a 7-5 record. Florida Atlantic scored 17 points in the game’s first ten minutes and led 30-20 at halftime. Memphis quarterback Martin Hankins threw a touchdown pass to Carlos Singleton to close the Owl lead to three in the third quarter before FAU pulled away for the victory.
Florida Atlantic 44, Tigers 27

2008 ST. PETERSBURG BOWL
The Tigers reached a fifth bowl game under coach Tommy West by the slimmest of margins, beating Tulane (handily) to finish the regular season with a record of 6-6. (Memphis lost its first three games and was 3-5 in mid-October.) South Florida dominated on both sides of the ball, holding the Tigers to 66 rushing yards and 172 through the air. Playing in its backyard, USF benefited from three touchdown passes by Matt Grothe, the game’s MVP.
USF 41, Tigers 14

Categories
Cover Feature News

Is This the Year for Memphis Football?

CREDIT: Larry Kuzniewski

Wait ’til this year.

As far as teases are measured, the University of Memphis football program couldn’t have picked four more tantalizing words than their marketing slogan for 2014. The Tiger fan base is accustomed to waiting: It’s been five years now since a bowl appearance, and six seasons since a winning campaign (7-6 in 2007). And it’s been worse in the recent past: eight consecutive losing seasons from 1995 through 2002. If you’re counting — and we have to include the 2-10 mess of 2006 that ended a three-year winning streak — that’s 15 losing football seasons over the past 19. Memphis football fans wait. And wait.

Until this year?

The first step in this process — for Tiger players, coaches, and fans — is putting the dreadful end to last season behind for good. Sorry to open the wound, but to summarize: After winning three games and losing four others by less than eight points, the Tigers were declawed in their last two (a 41-25 loss to Temple at the Liberty Bowl and a 45-10 drubbing at UConn). These are not the kind of memories that help an off-season. To a man, the Tiger players say they have put those losses in history’s dustbin, but within motivational reach.

“[Those losses] motivate the team a lot,” says senior cornerback Bobby McCain, one of the potential team stars who will determine how quickly the lingering memories can be erased. “We wanted to finish strong, and we didn’t. Mentally, physically, emotionally, we just weren’t there. It was somewhat fatigue. But morale had shifted. We knew after the Louisville game, there would be no bowl game. We have to do better. That’s not a good look.”

“Let’s just scrap that [2013 season],” adds senior tailback Brandon Hayes, back after being granted a sixth year of eligibility by the NCAA. “We could have had a much better season. We’re taking Austin Peay [Saturday] first, not looking ahead. If we start looking ahead at UCLA [September 6th], who knows what might happen?”

Larry Kuzniewski

Defensive end Martin Ifedi leads a veteran Tiger line

The 2014 Tigers will be a veteran team. (It’s been a while since those words were written.) In addition to familiar faces in the offensive skill positions — we’ll get to those later — the Tigers will have a defense built around three players with more than 20 career starts (defensive end Martin Ifedi, linebacker Charles Harris, and McCain) and four more with at least 12 (linemen Ricky Hunter and Terry Redden, linebacker Ryan Coleman, and cornerback Andrew Gaines). This is a unit that, through 10 games last season, ranked 16th in the country in total defense (and 23rd in points allowed). Of course, it’s a defense that — after the blowouts against Temple and UConn — fell to 39th in the country (44th in points allowed). Coach Justin Fuente, defensive coordinator Barry Odom, and an entire fan base are betting on that 10-game sampling being the real deal, and those final two an ugly anomaly.

“We showed last season that we can compete against any team we line up to play,” says the senior Ifedi, a candidate for the Bednarik Award (given to the nation’s top defender) and the Lombardi Award (top lineman or linebacker). “No matter the name — Louisville, UCF — we were close. We just fell short.”

Senior tailback Brandon Hayes and cornerback Bobby McCain (21) will play prominent roles for Coach Justin Fuente

Ifedi enters the season one sack shy of the Memphis career record (Tramont Lawless had 21 from 1996 to 1999), and he isn’t shy about the preseason recognition he’s received or the thought of improving on his sack total of a year ago (11.5). “When I got here as a freshman,” he says, “I thought about that sack record to myself, jokingly. But now it’s reality. It will be a big accomplishment for me. I need to dominate every game, play up to my ability. I want to win one of those awards; show the nation and the conference that I’m definitely one of the best.”

Says Fuente, “[Martin] has got to be a really good player on a good defense that, in turn, becomes a good football team. Then he’ll get every accolade he deserves. If you start freelancing, that’s when you struggle. I don’t think he’ll do that.”

Larry Kuzniewski

Coach Justin Fuente

Ifedi should combine with Redden and Hunter to give Memphis one of its strongest defensive lines in years. Add freshman Ernest Suttles to the group — Suttles impressed Fuente with his off-season work — and Memphis, dare we suggest it, has depth on the defensive front. “Terry Redden’s as good a defensive player as we have,” says Fuente. “When he’s in there, it’s a different ball game, because you can’t single-block him.”

“We have high hopes and high expectations for the defense,” says McCain, who led the Tigers with six interceptions (in just nine games) last season, the most by a Memphis player in 12 years. “We want to have a chip on our shoulder, to have the game in our hands in the fourth quarter.”

Joe Murphy

Bobby McCain

McCain and Gaines will be joined in the secondary by two more upper-classmen: safeties Reggis Ball and Fritz Etienne. McCain sees his unit as a complementary piece to the line and, not incidentally, the linebackers. (The Tigers’ hardest hitter may be senior linebacker Tank Jakes.) “You can win ball games by cutting down on big plays,” says McCain. “The three units work together well. We know we’re going to get pressure from the front seven. And if we’re leading in the fourth quarter, they’re gonna throw the ball.”

The Tiger schedule is packed with game-changing quarterbacks, ready and able to stretch the field early and late: UCLA’s Brett Hundley, Houston’s John O’Korn, Temple’s P.J. Walker. Will Ifedi and friends be able to reduce the time these signal-callers have to gaze down field? And will McCain and friends be able to pounce once the ball is in the air? These are questions that, when answered, will determine how close the U of M may be to bowl eligibility.

Larry Kuzniewski

Paxton Lynch (in red) and Brandon Hayes offer hope from the Tiger backfield.

There will also be familiar faces on offense, but Fuente cautions against using the same “veteran” tag his defense has earned. “I worry about the balance,” he says. “[The defense and offense] are two different groups. An older, veteran group on defense, but still a young group offensively, if you look at them as a whole. There are guys who have played, but they’re still young. We don’t have to pull them right out of high school and put them on the field anymore. But there’s a different balance there.”

Hayes will provide leadership from his tailback position, and there’s probably no player on the Tiger roster more grateful to be in uniform for the 2014 season. Having gone through the standard farewell rites of departing seniors last fall, he learned during the off-season that the NCAA had awarded him a sixth year of eligibility (in addition to a redshirt season, Hayes missed the 2010 campaign with a knee injury). He’s climbed his way to the top of the running back depth chart with a work ethic Fuente has cited as an example for two years now.

“It’s a blessing,” says Hayes. “I told myself that if I get a year back, I’m going to train differently, eat differently. I’ve got my body right, up to 210 pounds [from 198]. A lot of speed work, a lot of hills; working on my breakaway speed. I need to finish runs better. What might be a 26-yard run, I need to make it 56. Or if it’s 35, I need to take it the whole way.”

Of course, for the Tigers to succeed, the inspirational components of Hayes’ story need to translate to the field. After leading the team in rushing in 2012 (576 yards), Hayes ran for 860 yards last season and carried the ball 201 times without fumbling. He aims to become the first player since DeAngelo Williams (2002-05) to lead Memphis in rushing three straight seasons.

The receiving corps will feature no fewer than five veterans (Keiwone Malone, Joe Craig, Sam Craft, Mose Frazier, and Tevin Jones) and a redshirt freshman (Anthony Miller, a record-breaker at Christian Brothers High School) Fuente is convinced will stretch the field. But who will be quarterback Paxton Lynch’s primary target? Craig’s yardage total last season (338) was the lowest to lead Memphis since Bunkie Perkins (remember him?) had 314 in 2000. The best hope would seem to be competition driving six receivers hungry for footballs slung their way.

Fuente emphasizes this very priority, suggesting the receivers have to play better as a group this fall. And the same goes for the entire squad. “Will we be able to eliminate the petty jealousies that tear away from an organization or team?” he asks. “Will we be disciplined enough to hold the rope and prepare every single week?”

No position will be scrutinized more than quarterback, and Lynch returns as one of those “veteran-but-young” players, a redshirt sophomore who started all 12 games a year ago, to somewhat mixed results. His 2,056 passing yards were more than Danny Wimprine had as a redshirt-freshman in 2001. But Lynch averaged only 5.9 yards per attempt (Wimprine’s figure was 6.8 in ’01). He threw nine touchdown passes and was intercepted 10 times. Fuente is convinced Lynch is the quarterback this team needs.

“He’s continued to get stronger,” says Fuente. “He feels more comfortable in his own skin, his role, comfortable with the older players. He’s more athletic than anyone talks about, especially being so tall [6’6″]. He’s gotten better mechanically throwing the football, and he’s got good vision. He can see everything.”

Lynch feels comfortable in his quarterback shoes, but intends to make his impact felt team-wide in 2014. “I need to be more confident in myself,” says Lynch. “As a leader, everyone is looking at you. I could have prepared myself more [last year], and I’ve been working on that. When I make a mistake, I can’t put my head down. I’m diving into the playbook pretty hard. I have to know what everyone else on the field is doing … and everyone on the other side of the ball, too.”

“Paxton has matured,” says Hayes. “He knows what everybody is doing. He’s not timid. He’s got veteran qualities. Somebody messes up, he lets you know. I’m really excited to have seen him grow.”

Adds Fuente, “I’m just as interested in the other 10 around him playing better, to help him out. I’ve been encouraged by what I’ve seen so far.” Tackle Al Bond is the only senior in the offensive-line mix, a unit that must gain traction — literally and otherwise — for the offense to improve measurably. “They just have to get used to the [fast] tempo,” says Lynch. “It’s harder on those big guys. If they get in shape, we’ll be all right. I trust them. We just have to keep pushing each other to get better.”

Despite the loss of record-setting punter Tom Hornsey — the 2013 Ray Guy Award winner — the Tigers’ special teams should help win a game or two. Four capable return men are back (Craig, Craft, Malone, and McCain), and in sophomore Jake Elliott, the Tigers have one of the best young kickers in the country. Elliott earned first-team all-conference recognition last fall when he converted 16 of 18 field-goal attempts, including eight of nine from beyond 40 yards. A still-growing program must win the close games before it starts dreaming of any laughers.

“Nobody thinks we can beat [UCLA or Ole Miss],” says Ifedi with an audible snarl. “This is good. We’ll punch them in the mouth and they won’t know what hit them. Memphis is not going to be an easy game for you; I guarantee that.”

Adds McCain, “I’m gonna make sure the mindset of the whole team is to win ball games. Not just go in and put up a fight, lose by three. We want to win the ball game. I want to go to a bowl game. Doesn’t matter which one, as long as we get into the postseason mix.”

“My expectations for this squad are higher,” says Fuente. “But you have to balance that. The nonconference schedule is a stretch for us. We’re still teaching our guys how to lead, what a football program is supposed to be on a consistent basis. I think we’ve made huge strides.”

So … wait ’til this year? “It’s year,” emphasizes Fuente. “The entire season. It’s not wait for the second game or third game. Let’s get to the end of it and see how it stacks up. Our kids are ready to go. Let’s go see how good we can get. We’d love to take another step in front of a lot of fans.”

What the Schedule Holds

With Ole Miss back on the schedule, the SEC is again on the Memphis radar after a two-year hiatus. Dating back to 1997 (the year after the Tigers’ upset of Tennessee at the Liberty Bowl), the Tigers are 2-25 against the country’s most powerful conference. Whether or not the SEC stays on the schedule remains to be seen. “I’m okay with playing one stretch game,” says Fuente. “That’s what you’ll see from us in the future. My concern is the league; where are we in the league? Can we build our facilities and compete in this league? I have no inferiority complex with the Southeastern Conference. Our job is to be Sprite, not Coke and not Pepsi. To build a program that’s competitive in our realm.” — FM

August 30 — Austin Peay (6 p.m.)

September 6 — at UCLA (9 p.m.)

September 20 — Middle Tennessee

September 27 — at Ole Miss

October 4 — at Cincinnati

October 11 — Houston

October 25 — at SMU

October 31 (Fri) — Tulsa (7 p.m.)

November 7 (Fri) — at Temple (6:30 p.m.)

November 15 — at Tulane

November 22 — USF

November 29 — UConn

Categories
Sports Sports Feature

FROM MY SEAT: Just Thinking…

A few
not-so-random thoughts from the world of sports:

• I
admire coach Tommy West and the University of Memphis football program for the
strength they showed in playing last week’s game against Marshall, as
scheduled, in the aftermath of Taylor Bradford’s murder. The marching band’s
rendition of “Amazing Grace” at halftime may have been the most poignant
moment I’ve experienced at the Liberty Bowl.

I
strongly disagree with the decision to play less than 48 hours after a member
of the team was shot and killed, but if three hours in helmets and pads in
front of 25,000 friends helped ease the pain, even briefly, the effort was
worthwhile.

It’s
now the responsibility of the U of M administration, of course, to be
proactive in raising awareness about gun violence in Memphis. Our flagship
educational enterprise simply must focus attention on this city’s single most
damning weakness. However isolated or “targeted” the administration considers
Bradford’s murder, guns taking the lives of young Memphians is epidemic. The
university owes this larger battle (and far more than a football game) to the
memory of Taylor Bradford.

•
Having caught my first glimpse of the 2007-08 Memphis Grizzlies at last week’s
public “Lunch Time” scrimmage, I’ve got a name for you: Casey Jacobsen. Mike
Conley and Darko Milicic will be popular new faces at FedExForum and will play
large roles in determining how close this team is to playoff contention. But
the sharp shooting Jacobsen — a college star at Stanford who cut his pro teeth
in Europe — is going to be among the most popular Grizzlies in the season
ahead.

• Can
SEC football get any better? The 12th-ranked Georgia Bulldogs go to Tennessee,
ready to put a beat-down on the sagging Vols, having won their last three
games in Knoxville. Instead, UT discovers it can run the ball and whips the
Dawgs by 21 in a game that wasn’t that close.

Then a
few hours later, top-ranked LSU finds itself on the ropes against the
defending national champions, only to rally with one fourth-down conversion
after another, scoring the winning touchdown with less than two minutes to
play. Don’t bet against these Tigers the rest of the season. (And how many
Mid-South football fans were shedding tears over Florida being eliminated from
the national-title hunt the first week in October?)

•
Tradition will take a beating in the National League Championship Series later
this week. The senior circuit’s two historical whipping boys — the Cubs and
Phillies — both went down in three-game sweeps, and at the hands of two clubs
(the Diamondbacks and Rockies, respectively) that weren’t playing baseball as
recently as 1992.

Consider these “historical” factoids. The greatest player in Arizona history —
the currently hobbled Randy Johnson — has pitched in more games as a Mariner
than he has as a Diamondback. In 10 years of baseball, Arizona has changed its
uniform design more often than the St. Louis Cardinals have in 116 years. As
for the Rockies, they aim to reach their first World Series having still never
finished atop their division. Bless the wild card.

Even
with tradition out the window, the NLCS will be a healthy introduction for
many fans to some of the best young players never seen east of the Rocky
Mountains. Colorado’s Matt Holliday (.340 batting average, 36 homers, 137
RBIs) is — with Philadelphia’s Jimmy Rollins — one of two viable NL MVP
candidates. Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki (.291, 24, 99) is a likely
Rookie of the Year winner. And rightfielder Brad Hawpe (.291, 29, 116) could
stand — in full uniform — at Times Square and not be recognized.

As for
Arizona, reigning Cy Young winner Brandon Webb (18 wins, 3.01 ERA) would be
making commercials if he played in New York, and centerfielder Chris Young (32
homers at age 23) will be a perennial All-Star by 2010.

So
forget the uniforms, the swimming pool in one ballpark and a humidor in the
other. (Mark this down: If Colorado wins the pennant, we’ll see the first snow
delay in World Series history.) Sit back and enjoy some great baseball.

• How
does a King lose his kingdom? He starts by wearing the opponent’s baseball cap
to a playoff game in Cleveland. How tone-deaf must LeBron James be to show up
at Jacobs Field in a Yankees lid? Here’s a thought for the next time the
Bombers come to Ohio for a game, LeBron: Yankee boxers.

Categories
Cover Feature News

Roaring Back?

CREDIT: Larry Kuzniewski

However hot, hazy, and humid, August in Memphis is a time for optimism if you’re a football fan. Before the season’s opening kickoff — this Saturday for the University of Memphis, in the Liberty Bowl against Ole Miss — every team from UCF to UCLA is undefeated. For the 2007 Memphis Tigers, optimism is a welcome tonic.

Having survived a 2-10 trainwreck in 2006, head coach Tommy West turned his staff inside out over the off-season. Six of West’s nine full-time staffers are new to the program, the lone holdovers being offensive coordinator Clay Helton, offensive line coach Rick Mallory, and linebackers coach Kenny Ingram. Add the requisite hope and optimism of a new job to the mix and this year’s squad will take its lead from a staff that has little tolerance for any aftertaste from last season.

“They’re good teachers,” says West of his new assistants. “And that’s what coaching is: teaching. I’m really excited about it.”

West dismisses any thoughts of the risk in such a dramatic turnover in staff. “I keep a good grip on things,” he says. “And I do what I think is necessary to move us forward. The [challenge] has been to get everybody on the same page. We know how to win. That’s what I had to impress on them: You’re not coming into a program that hasn’t won. We’re not here to get on your page. You need to get on our page. We’ve been to more bowl games than all of them. And they’ve done a good job of understanding what we do and how we do it.

“When you’ve had a staff together for four or five years,” he continues, “it’s easier for the head coach. The other coaches know what’s expected. That’s my job, to coach the coaches. It’s their job to coach the players.”

Here’s a look at the season ahead through the eyes of three of the new coaches.

Brent Pry (Defensive Line)

The 37-year-old Pry arrives in Memphis having spent the last five seasons at Louisiana-Lafayette (ULL). During Pry’s time at ULL, the Ragin’ Cajuns won a Sun Belt Conference championship and saw three defensive players selected in the NFL draft. Having played collegiately as a safety at Buffalo, Pry has taken a unique path to overseeing defensive linemen.

“I’ve coached them all,” Pry stresses. “When I went to Virginia Tech as a grad assistant, I coached the line for three years. I coached the secondary at Western Carolina, and I’ve also coached linebackers. We had some great defenses at Virginia Tech, and that was primarily because of our front four. You can take a ball game over from the defensive line. If they can’t block you up front, they can’t do much of anything.”

Pry seems every bit as happy to be in Memphis as West is to add him to the mix. “I wanted to work for Tommy West six years ago,” he explains, “and it didn’t work out, but I’ve always had a great amount of respect for him. Coming from Virginia Tech and knowing Tommy when he was at Clemson, I’ve got a lot of respect for the kind of defensive coach he was. I also had a close relationship with [new defensive coordinator] Rick Kravitz.”

Though new to the Mid-South, Pry has a feel for the lay of the land. And he has a unique perspective — optimism, remember — on the team he inherits. “Coming from the Sun Belt Conference,” Pry reflects, “we played a lot of Conference USA schools, so I had an idea of what was good and what wasn’t in this league, and I was very impressed with the talent on this football team. [Last year’s] record was not indicative of the talent.”

Larry Kuzniewski

Darin Hinshaw

Pry has a different angle — again, coming from the Sun Belt — from fans who continue to insist this is SEC country. “Conference USA has a bigger, better athlete,” Pry notes. “There was speed in the Sun Belt, though not as much. The overall makeup of your roster has much greater potential in this league. In the Sun Belt, maybe the top 10 guys could play in this league. I also think there’s a greater commitment from the administration in this league.”

Considering last year’s Tiger team suffered a nine-game losing streak — one that didn’t include the season-opening loss to Ole Miss — how can Pry carry his rosy outlook with a straight face? “Anytime you make a change at the coordinator position, it’s tough,” he stresses. “You’re going from a very different scheme. Joe Lee Dunn’s scheme was atypical. To change from that scheme was difficult. The kids had to be exposed to new adjustments and things they didn’t have to deal with under the old system.

“We had a head start this spring, really diving into the 4-3 and what Tommy and Rick Kravitz want to do,” Pry says. “I expect to see a lot of improvement. The first thing that comes to mind when I look at a defensive line is mentality. Along with coaching technique with this group, I’ve coached the heck out of them when it comes to mentality. The more maturity I can get out of this group, the more commitment. It’s a tough position to play, especially on first and second down. You’ve got to have a mature bunch. Do they understand the work involved? Do they understand the commitment, the unselfish approach? They have to get the most out of every rep, every practice. It’s an image that they’re forming, to be respected by their teammates and their coaches.”

In identifying a leader among his unit, Pry points to a rookie defensive tackle: “Freddie Barnett, the junior-college transfer, has been a real inspiration. He has tremendous ability and all the intangibles. He’s unselfish, talented, and a very big team player. He’s constantly pushing the rest of the group.”

Greg Terrell — a C-USA All-Freshman selection a year ago — is another player fans should spotlight this fall. “Greg has put on about 30 pounds,” Pry says. “He’s bigger and stronger. He’s growing into the new system, and there’s a lot of competition at the [defensive end] position. Greg’s had to work harder than he ever has before. He’s beginning to understand that you’re not going to get by on ability alone.”

Larry Kuzniewski

Rick Kravitz

Darin Hinshaw (wide receivers)

Led by sophomore Duke Calhoun (42 receptions for 681 yards in ’06), the Tiger receiving corps should be a strength this fall, particularly if senior quarterback Martin Hankins builds on his strong finish last season and tailback Joseph Doss keeps opposing defenses honest against the run. The pass-catchers will be guided by 35-year-old Darin Hinshaw, a record-breaking quarterback at Central Florida during his playing days and most recently the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Georgia Southern. Hinshaw also spent five years at Middle Tennessee State, where the Blue Raiders developed into one of the highest-scoring offenses in the Sun Belt.

Ask Hinshaw about his unit and the coach has to take a breath before reeling off the names he expects to make an impact: Calhoun, Carlos Singleton, Earnest Williams, Steven Black (a junior-college transfer), Carlton Robinzine (recovered from a knee injury that cost him the 2006 season). It’s a case of strength in numbers that the Tiger passing game hasn’t always enjoyed.

“Through the course of a season,” Hinshaw explains, “you’re going to use all your receivers, and they’re gonna have to rotate. When you can rotate a starter and backup and not lose anything, that’s huge. Normally, defensive backs don’t rotate at all, so you have a chance to run some deep routes, tire them out, and not lose anything at receiver.

Larry Kuzniewski

Tommy West

“We run sets with three and four receivers,” Hinshaw continues. “We’re going to move them around, to get them in position to get mismatches. When you have one great receiver, the defense will roll coverage to him. But when you have good receivers on both sides, it creates one-on-one matches. We’ve got to make plays.”

Hinshaw loves the leadership Calhoun has shown at the start of his second college season. “Duke’s always the first in line for sprints,” Hinshaw says. “When you have a guy with talent like his wanting to work, it gets everybody focused.”

Whether it’s size, speed, strength, or versatility, Hinshaw feels the Tiger wideouts are equipped to create their share of headaches for the opposition. “We’ve gained a lot of experience at the position,” he notes. “We’re gonna move Duke around a lot, and we’ll have depth with Maurice Jones. Earnest Williams is going to be one of the top inside receivers in the conference. Usually you have one guy, then you have a bunch of average players that you’re trying to get better. I feel like we have weapons that can catch the ball and score. We’ve got strong receivers: Jones broke the school squat record [for receivers] this summer.”

A quarterback’s blood still pulsing through his veins, Hinshaw recognizes the development of Martin Hankins as critical to his unit’s performance in the season ahead. And he likes what he sees thus far. “[Hankins] has really come along from where he was last year,” Hinshaw says. “He’s gotten bigger, stronger, and he’s gotten a lot more confident with the receivers. When a bunch of guys get hurt, you lose that relationship. [Backup quarterback] Will Hudgens is a leader, too. And he’s had a good summer.”

With seven or eight receivers in the mix, Hankins had better become familiar with faces before he starts gazing downfield. And those receivers he ultimately sees had better catch the ball, because a ready-and-able replacement will be on the sideline.

“That’s what’s great about making each other better, the competition,” Hinshaw says. “If you don’t have someone pushing you from behind, you can get stagnant. As a group, we’re working to make each other better and win as a team. Some games you may catch 10 balls, others you may catch three. It depends on what the defense is doing. Everybody’s gotta be ready to perform and to make plays.”

Larry Kuzniewski

Brent Pry

Rick Kravitz
(defensive coordinator)

It’s almost a universal truth among Tiger fans that the 2006 season was all but compromised with the midseason dismissal of defensive coordinator Joe Lee Dunn. As Pry notes, the adjustments forced upon players — while preparing for the next week’s foe — proved too much for the Tiger defense. With West himself overseeing the scheme transition, important details were lost in translation. The end result: an average of more than 30 points allowed per game.

To the rescue comes Rick Kravitz. Having first filled the role of defensive coordinator in 1986 (at Florida A&M), Kravitz brings a single-minded determination for defensive improvement to the 2007 Tigers. During a decade spent at South Florida, Kravitz coordinated a unit that ranked among the top 20 defenses nationally three times. (Last year — his only season at North Carolina State — the Wolfpack finished 13th in the country against the pass.)

Having been on the opposite sideline, Kravitz welcomes the chance to mold a defense at West’s side. “Knowing Coach West’s defensive background,” Kravitz says, “it was exciting to get the chance to come here and learn some things from him. He’s a fundamentals coach, which I like. He’s a guy who lets you coach. He wants things done his way, which is natural. He’s straightforward.”

Larry Kuzniewski

#22: sophomore wide receiver Duke Calhoun

He won’t go so far as to describe a “Rick Kravitz philosophy to defense,” but the 53-year-old Florida native does believe there is value in change. “I bring — along with the other new coaches — some enthusiasm and excitement. Defensively, we’re developing an attitude. If the ball’s on the one-yard line, you know, we still have a yard to go. We’re being positive, aggressive. If we can improve 2 percent a day, after 20 days we’ve improved 40 percent.”

How is a defense that was so staggered a year ago reshaped into a unit capable of beating Division I-A competition? Kravitz considers the answer elementary. “We have to continue to work on fundamentals and get better at what we do. If we do that, no matter what we run, we’re going to be a better defensive team. Kids have bought into my fundamentals, and that’s how you get better and better.”

Kravitz echoes Pry’s sentiments about Barnett when describing the off-season leaders of his defense. He also says defensive back Dontae Reed — a transfer from Ole Miss — has made a difference. “They encourage each other,” Kravitz notes. “Dontae has gathered players for workouts, taking responsibility and getting things done.”

A new season, a new schedule, and lots of new faces. Why not be optimistic as year seven of the Tommy West era dawns in Memphis?

“With six new coaches,” Pry says, “it forces you to move forward. We weren’t here for [the 2-10 season]. It’s been a breath of fresh air, a renewal.

“This is the most well-disciplined football team I’ve ever been around,” he adds. “And it starts at the top with Coach West. These players — and the coaches — have a tremendous respect for him and how he wants to run this program. The whole group is coming together as a football team.”

The first exam is Saturday against Ole Miss.

Categories
Cover Feature News

West Intentions

CREDIT: Larry Kuzniewski

Late last November, after his University of Memphis Tigers beat Marshall in their regular-season finale to clinch a winning record and the football program’s third-straight bowl berth, head coach Tommy West was asked a straightforward question: “Was this season your best coaching job?”

West responded, “Well, I think I do a good job every year, so that’s hard to answer.”

One bowl win, one departed All-American, and one open-heart surgery later, the Tiger coach enters his sixth season on the Memphis sidelines as the fourth-most successful coach in the program’s history, his 32 wins trailing only Billy Murphy (91), Ralph Hatley (59), and Zach Curlin (43). But with success come expectations, and Tommy West realizes the hill gets steeper as those expectations rise. What can Tiger fans expect from their football team this fall? And where exactly is the program headed, long-term? Who better to ask than the coach himself?

First of all, we’re glad you’re here for year six. How’s your health?

Tommy West: My health is good. I’m getting my strength back. I’m trying to exercise in the heat of the day. I probably won’t have it all back before the end of the season, but I’ll be pretty close. The doctors have told me it takes about eight months to a year, but I don’t feel like anything’s holding me back. Larry Kuzniewski

Tommy West

The hardest thing right now is my diet. Your metabolism is so slowed down by the medications. And I’ve got to lose about 15 pounds. I can almost gain weight eating lettuce. I tell [the doctors], ya’ll want me to lose weight and my heart beats about once every third day. I hear it tick. That’s been the hardest part. Normally, once I start exercising, I drop weight and I’m ready to go in August.

Did the surgery alter your thinking at all about coaching?

Oh yeah. I don’t know if it was the surgery or the time I had just sitting in a chair, but you do a lot of thinking. At 51 years old — barely out of my 40s — what am I doing sitting up here in a hospital with my chest split open? It made me stop and appreciate more. It made me realize how much I really do enjoy doing what I’m doing. I like living in Memphis. I like coaching at the University of Memphis. I think [our program] can be bigger and better than it is.

You don’t come across as one of those over-the-top intense coaches who would seem prone to heart problems.

I’ve always taken great pride in being the duck going across the water that looks like there’s no effort at all, but if you look under the water, he’s paddling like crazy. I run pretty tight. I stay pretty low-key off the field, but when it comes time to work, I’m pretty intense with it. On practice and game days, I’ve got to find a way to channel the intensity.

Can the loss of one player — DeAngelo Williams — constitute a rebuilding year?

Yes, when you look at the number of yards and the number of points and the leadership, I think it can. It’s a double-edged sword. Nobody loves DeAngelo more or respects what DeAngelo’s done more than Tommy West. On the other hand, it really irks me to hear that we’ve been in three bowls in a row just because of DeAngelo Williams. There are a lot of other kids out there who have busted their tails, opened holes for him, made tackles when we weren’t gaining yards, and kicked field goals.

The loss for us is the combination of [placekicker] Stephen Gostkowski and DeAngelo. Now, add those points up! Larry Kuzniewski

Senior free safety Wesley Smith

We go back now, and if we built this program the right way, someone else will step up.

I feel really fortunate to have coached him and have him here. I loved watching him play, but even more than that, I loved watching him practice. He was a great practice player, like most of the great ones are. It’s no coincidence that Tiger Woods is one of the hardest workers. Michael Jordan was one of the hardest practice players. Walter Payton. Jerry Rice … All the greatest of the greats were among the hardest workers there have ever been, and that’s no coincidence. DeAngelo grew his game. It was a lot of fun.

What kind of long-term impact do you feel Williams will have on your program?

He’ll be talked about forever. He opened people’s thought process to “I can go to Memphis and accomplish every goal that I ever wanted to accomplish.” He came here, he led the nation in rushing, he was a Heisman Trophy candidate, he made All-America teams, he went in the first round [of the NFL draft]. He did all the things that we told him he could do and the SEC schools told him he couldn’t do if he came here. And he had a great time doing it. He endeared himself to a city. Anybody that’s famous, you can call by one name: Tiger, Shaq, Madonna, Cher. In Memphis, if you say DeAngelo, nobody says, “Who?”

What should Tiger fans expect from this year’s

running game?

That will be one of the keys to our team. We’re not going to have one guy run for 2,000 yards. But if we can keep our rushing game where it was with a complement of running backs, quarterbacks, and wide receivers running the ball, we’ll be fine. That’s how we have to overcome the loss of 2,000 yards from one guy. We have a talented group of wideouts, and we hand them the ball on reverses a lot, so they’re going to have to get us some yards. Anytime you lose a great player, you’ve got to be as good or better as a team.

What about the quarterback position?

The misfortunes of a year ago are going to be positives for us this year. Our transfer, Martin Hankins, went through spring practice. Patrick Byrne should be totally healthy, so he’s in the mix. Will Hudgens has lost some weight and looks good. Larry Kuzniewski

West commands his troops on the practice fields

The experience we have will help us. [Note: West named Hankins his starting quarterback as this issue went to press.]

Lots of experience back on the offensive line. This has to help break in the new backfield.

I think we’re two-deep on the offensive line. I expect us to be good there. We have to be good there.

A football team often finds leadership from its offensive linemen. Is that the case with your team?

Well, I’ve always said that when your linemen are the leaders of your team, you have a very unselfish team. When your skill guys are the leaders, a lot of times you have a selfish team. Skill guys want the ball.

We are a very quiet football team. We don’t have a lot of mouth, and that’s fine with me. Part of that is we’ve recruited our kind of guys. I’m not a big talker on the field. I want our work to do our talking. This is a team that is going to be led by examples more than vocals.

On the defensive side of the ball, you lost some big hitters in Tim Goodwell, Carlton Baker, and O.C. Collins. Who are some of the players we’ll see filling the void?

Wesley Smith is the first one. This is the first time Wesley has ever been healthy through spring ball. He’s a tall, thin guy, and he’s been nursing shoulder injuries. But he looks really good. Next is our defensive line. We’ve got some additions there who I believe will make plays for us — Corey Mills, Clint McDonald, Jada Brown. And we get Rubio Phillips back. Those guys are capable of making plays. They’re a little bit quicker, and they just make things happen. Quinton McCrary is back from injury at linebacker, and Rod Smith is moving from safety to linebacker.

I anticipate our defense being a lot better. We ended last season playing pretty good defense after a stretch of playing poor defense. It’s critical that our defense is good from the start.

Talk about Wesley Smith. He’s flown under the radar, with Danny Wimprine and Williams earning so many headlines the last three years. Four-time all-conference players don’t come around often.

No, and barring injury, he’s probably going to [be all-conference] again. Wesley has been a very consistent, solid player. He’s a very quiet guy, leads by example, just does his job. He has really been a solid football player for us. And he’s played banged up.

Your special teams are going to miss Stephen Gostkowski’s placekicking, but you have one of the finest punters in C-USA — Michael Gibson — returning.

I think we’ve got one of the best punters in the nation.

Now, a casual fan might say if your punter is a star, you’ve got a problem.

Yeah, we hope he never gets on the field. But he can change the game, change field position for us. Overall, our kicking game is going to be better. We’ll be as good or better on coverage, and the next phase is to get better at return teams.

As far as the kicker goes, it’ll be interesting to see how it plays out. We have Trey Adams, Kittrell Smith — and Patrick Byrne has kicked. We’ve got some choices, and that’s the good thing.

What has pleased you most over your first five years coaching the Tigers?

The class of the program. We’ve seen what this can be. Our fans, our support. I think it still can be better. To end the season two years in a row with the last home game drawing over 40,000 … My first year, I think we had about 12,000 for the last game.

Also, the way this is being done. We’ve got class people, from top to bottom. We graduated 20 of 22 this year. We had eight seniors another year and graduated seven. We’ve done it our way, and it’s worked. I’m proud that we have a product that’s not only exciting to watch on the field, but it’s first-class off the field, too. When I go to bed at night, I don’t worry about where my guys are. Now, they’re kids; they’re 19, 20 years old. We’re not immune [to trouble]. But I hope our fans appreciate the kind of program they have. I know winning’s the bottom line. I’m not trying to hide that. And I’m extremely proud of 24 wins in three years. But I’m equally proud of how we’ve done it.

The worst thing, to me, would be to lose with bad people. How miserable would that be? I’m not going to be around a bunch of kids that I don’t like being around.

We’ve changed the face of this program. The truth is, we were not looked at as a first-class Division I program when we started. We had a little bit of the outlaw-ish image: “If I can’t go to Ole Miss or Alabama or Tennessee, then I’ll stay home and go to Memphis.” That face is changing now. There’s a lot more local talent — from all over Shelby County — coming to [the U of M] now. And that’s for the entire school, I mean. I’d like to think [our football program] has had something to do with that.

When we signed Scott Vogel, he was one of the first private-school players we ever had here. Now, you look at all the Christian Brothers players … It wasn’t like that when we started. Kids just didn’t view us as an alternative. Maybe for city kids, but county kids thought otherwise.

When we first started, our facilities were not first-class. Our locker room was horrible. When it rained, the roof leaked. We had a team that was a bunch of mouth, and they were losing. Nobody wants to hear a guy talking trash while he’s getting the stew beaten out of him. I hated it. That’s not what our program’s going to be viewed as. That’s what I’m most proud of. We’ve changed the perception of an entire city.

How do you feel about the expanded 12-game schedule? And what does this say about the NCAA’s reluctance to have a Division I-A playoff because of “too many games”?

I think it’s good for the game. The length of our season is not a problem. The length of our games, I believe, is somewhat of a problem. I’ve been an advocate for years to try and shorten our games. We have TV games now that run close to four hours. I believe we can handle the 12 games with our 85 [scholarship players]. We couldn’t go any more. I don’t believe we can go to a playoff with 85.

I think the NCAA needs to do away with red shirts and go to five-for-five [allowing players to play five full years, as opposed to the current four years of eligibility in a five-year window]. It’s a no-brainer. Why not? They’ve got five years to go to school, why not five to play? They can come out early, if they want.

At some point, we’re going to run out of players. Someone’s gonna run out of right tackles. It even affects discipline. Hey, I haven’t got but one more guard, and this kid just got in trouble. I can’t get rid of him, so I’ll do something else. These two freshmen are red-shirted over here — they can’t play — and we’ve got three more games.

How long do you see yourself leading this program?

Until we go to a BCS [Bowl Championship Series] bowl game.

Beyond that?

Well, if it happens next year, I’ll go beyond it. I’m not ready to get out, and I’ve got a son coming into this program. [The BCS] is my ultimate goal. When I said that five years ago, people snickered. I heard the comments: “He might want to try and have a winning season before he talks about a BCS game.” But now, all of a sudden, it’s out there and it’s not so far-fetched. This old coot just might be right.

I can remember when Florida State wasn’t very good. And I can remember when Miami was about to drop football. I pictured this program as being a Florida State, Miami. Obviously, we’re not anywhere near that yet, but we’re gaining on them. When I feel this job is done, and I can turn it over — to one of my guys hopefully — I’ll be ready to move on.

Your name was mentioned with the Ole Miss vacancy, and with success, you’re going to get more and more calls from some of the glamour conferences.

I am very comfortable where I am. You’re never gonna say never, and I’ll be honest with you. If Tampa Bay calls me next year and offers me $5 million a year to come coach their team, there’s a good chance I’m going. Let’s don’t act like it couldn’t ever happen.

But every other coach who has sat in my chair [at the U of M] was trying to get to a Clemson, an Alabama, an Auburn. I’ve already been there. It’s not a burning desire of mine to go back to the bigger budgets, bigger headaches, more alumni. We all have egos, but I am very comfortable where I am. I like my staff. I like my players. For me to ever leave here, it’s going to have to be pretty special.

You talked about changing the face of the program. With DeAngelo in the NFL now, you are the face of this program.

I’m proud of where this program is. We all want to be good. I want to take this program further than it’s ever been taken, further than people ever thought it could be taken. I want to do things in this program that have never been done before, and that motivates me.

This is one of the few places that I’ve been where you feel appreciated, instead of, “Okay, what are you gonna do next year?” Our people still appreciate what we’re doing. It hasn’t reached the point where “eight wins aren’t good enough. When are we gonna win 10?”

Tell us one similarity and one difference between Tommy West and John Calipari.

The similarity would be our passion to win. John has a passion to make Memphis the number-one basketball program in the country. And Tommy has a passion to make Memphis the number-one football program in the country. I think it’s pretty obvious in both of us.

The biggest difference is probably in the amount of money we spend on clothes. His clothes cost more than I make!