5 Things Tiger Fans Should Know About The 2012 Football Schedule

January 26, 2012 by 5 Comments

Photo by JD Meredith

This past football season for the Memphis Tigers is one that fans and players cannot wait to put behind them.  The team only won two games and was blown out in all but two of their losses.  Last season the Tigers’ ranked in the bottom half in almost every major statistical category in the FBS, saw the firing of head coach Larry Porter, and more importantly finished dead last in our TAM rankings.

Well with the release of the football schedule earlier today Tiger fans can continue the process of forgetting about the last year’s dreadful season.  First year head coach Justin Fuente is in charge now, and will try to make Memphis respectable again. However, last year was so bad that I doubt even the infamous Seal Team 6 can rescue this football program.  Alas, here are five things you need to know about the Memphis Tigers 2012 football schedule.

1.  Dude where’s my SEC team?
The thing that jumps out the most when you look at the schedule is the fact that there is no SEC team.  This marks the first time in 63 years that Memphis does not have an SEC opponent on its schedule.  The Tigers are 37-126 all time versus the SEC so that might have something to do with the glaring absence of a team from that conference.  However, Memphis does lead the all time series against Arkansas and Auburn so that is something Tiger fans can brag about.  Also, if you do not include Ole Miss, Mississippi State, and Tennessee the Tigers have a much more reasonable record of 15-25 against the SEC.  You have to find the silver lining in every cloud, especially when that cloud is 63 years of futility against three teams from one conference.

2.  As the kids would say “Wallah Magic!” no Houston and Tulsa again for the Tigers.
The next most glaring thing about this schedule is the absence of Houston and Tulsa, the two best teams from the west, for the second straight year due to the C-USA schedule rotation. It works out in the Tigers’ favor however because instead of getting two games against some of the best in C-USA they get to play fellow bottom dwellers Tulane and Rice.  Which are two much needed winnable games for the Tigers.

3.  Memphis only plays four teams who had a winning record last season.
This is great news for a team that has not had a winning season since 2007.  However, some of the teams from last year’s schedule with losing records (like UCF and Rice) still managed to beat Memphis like a drum so do not get too excited Tiger supporters.  Yet your chances of winning increases when you are playing lesser competition.  In fact, Memphis only plays one team in their first seven games that had winning records from last year.

4.  Can the home schedule get any blander, as there are no marquee home games?
The home games for the 2012 season are as follows UT Martin, MTSU, Rice, UCF, Tulane, and Southern Mississippi so what is the game that is going to get a huge fan turnout?  For a school that is trying to get noticed by a major conference fan turnout is key.  Having a strong fan following makes any team more alluring, but when you are a bad team you need good teams on the schedule to bring in a strong fan turn out.  Make no mistake about it Memphis will be blown out at home next season, but it will be against one of the schools listed above and not a team that will bring fans in like Ole Miss, Mississippi State, or Tennessee.

5.  Lastly (and most importantly) my prediction for the 2012 season is…
With the absence of SEC teams, a new coaching staff that will focus on scoring (something the Tigers struggled to do last year), and the maturity of young players like Taylor Reed I believe the Memphis Tigers will go 4-8 in 2012.  They play FCS foe UT Martin in the first game of the season which should give the Tigers win number one.  MTSU comes to the Liberty Bowl this year, and after almost beating the Blue Raiders last year (and beating them the year before) expect that game to be intense and the Tigers second victory.  That gives the Tigers a 2-2 out of conference record and with home games against two of the worst teams in C-USA (Tulane and Rice) Memphis should manage to double their win total from last season.

CJ Hurt covers college football for MemphiSport.  Follow him @churtj09 for insightful tweets about college football and tweets that might change your life.

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What’s the better football job: Memphis or Ole Miss?

December 4, 2011 by 6 Comments

Memphis and Ole Miss are bitter rivals with a lot in common right now.  Both are coming of two football seasons which fans want to forget with athletic directors that are stepping down in the next year.  With all of these similarities between the two struggling programs the question becomes what is the better situation for an incoming coach?

Let’s start with Ole Miss, which because of unrealistic expectations and a tough division makes it easily the worst available job in all of college football.  The fans are so delusional that they do not realize the best they can hope for is third or fourth place in the SEC West and maybe a bowl appearance.  Every year they expect their Rebels to win the western half of the SEC, and when they do not it is time to fire the coach.  So why would a coach place himself under that type of scrutiny when history suggests he will not be successful? The next head coach at Ole Miss is destined for failure, and if you do not believe me, just take a look at the Rebel’s history since the SEC split into two divisions in 1992.

Since SEC football expanded in ’92 there have been 19 seasons, with each season concluding in an SEC championship game.  Ole Miss has played in none of those games.  That means that Ole Miss has never won the outright SEC West title (but they do have a SEC West co-championship in 2003).  In fact, the last time Ole Miss won the SEC title was nearly five decades ago in 1963. Also, the Rebels have finished in the top three of the SEC West just six times since ‘92, while finishing in last place four times with two winless years in conference (they have more seasons with no wins in conference than they do SEC West championships!).  During this time span Ole Miss has only seven seasons with a conference record of .500 or better, and four of those seasons are 4-4.  So the Rebels have only three seasons with five or more wins in conference, but fans expect Ole Miss to compete for SEC West championships.

As long as LSU, Auburn, and Alabama are in the SEC West the Rebels will never have a realistic shot at winning the division.  With Arkansas on the rise, the addition of Texas A&M to the SEC West, and the addition of Missouri to the conference, the future of Rebel football is beginning to look bleak.

On the other hand, Memphis football is so bad that the Tigers probably couldn’t win the OVC right now, making it easily the second worst available coaching job in all of college football.  Three pitiful years (one under West and the other two under Porter), combined with a leadership group that cannot run a football press conference correctly let alone a football program, and a frustrated fan base have severely crippled any incoming coach’s chances to be successful.

However, there are no national powerhouses in C-USA, whereas the SEC West alone has three.  In fact, all the good teams in C-USA are leaving for AQ conferences, which should serve as an encouraging sign for Tiger fans who want wins.  One would think that with Houston, UCF, and SMU leaving the Tigers will be able to win more games in conference.  Alas, remember when Louisville, Cincinnati, and USF left before the 2005 season, the Tigers were supposed to dominate, but sadly they have not.

Memphis has a conference record of 18-38 in the seven seasons since C-USA split into two divisions. The Tigers have never won a C-USA championship in the leagues 15 year history, and are routinely the worst team in the conference.  At least the fans know the program is bad and they only want a few wins every year, not a conference title.

The Tigers are so desperate for wins that if the next coach can average four or five wins over the next three seasons he might earn himself a contract extension.  Conversely, if the Rebel’s next coach averages four or five wins over the next three seasons he will be fired. Just ask Houston Nutt who averaged six wins in his four year tenure.

Really this argument all comes down to whether you want to be a bad team in a mediocre conference (Memphis) or a bad team in a good conference (Ole Miss).  However, Ole Miss is a job that pays much more than Memphis.  And since both programs’ next coach will be gone by 2015, it might be best to take the millions of dollars Ole Miss is willing to pay and make off like bandit.

Click here to read 5 Reasons Why Memphis Should and Should Not Hire Houston Nutt.

Click here  to read Who should replace Houston Nutt at Ole Miss?

Click here  to read The end of an era in University of Memphis athletics.

Click here to read All Shook Up: R.C. Johnson in his own words.

Click here to read Fantasy Shirley: A Real Interview with a Fake University President.

CJ Hurt covers college football for MemphiSport.  Follow him @churtj09 for live tweets from different college football games throughout the Mid-South.

 

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5 Reasons Why Memphis Should and Should Not Hire Houston Nutt

November 11, 2011 by 1 Comment
Five Reasons Not to Hire Coach Nutt: 

1.  It is too soon to give up on Coach Porter.

One of the most important reasons not to hire Coach Nutt if you are Memphis is because Coach Porter is still in the process of building a program.  While the Tigers have struggled in Porter’s two year tenure, they are showing signs of improvement.  Memphis has a lot of underclassmen contributing on this year’s team, and this year’s experience under Coach Porter’s guidance will prove invaluable and help the program out in the long run.  He still has not gotten the depth necessary yet to compete at a top level, but he is only a few recruits away from making Memphis a threat.

2.  Despite Coach Nutt’s success his conference record is not good.

Coach Nutt has an impressive resume, but he only has a 52-58 conference record spanning the last fourteen seasons with Arkansas and Ole Miss.  Since he has been at Ole Miss his conference record is a pathetic 10-20.  It certainly seems like teams that are familiar with Coach Nutt’s system have success against him, a fact that should concern every Tiger fan that wants Coach Nutt.

3.  Houston Nutt may use Memphis as a stepping stone to get back to a major program.

Should Memphis hire Coach Nutt there is a possibility that Coach Nutt will leave as soon as a vacancy at a bigger program becomes available.  He did it to Boise State in 1997 when he left the Broncos after only one season to go coach Arkansas.  If you are curious about the damage a coach who leaves after one year can cause, look across the state to a Tennessee team that is still trying to rebuild after Lane Kiffin left to coach USC.  Add to this issue the fact that the Tiger’s have recently been spurned by a certain basketball coach who left because of the money and prestige of another program and you have a leadership group who wants to make sure that does not happen again.

4.  Coach Nutt is too expensive.

Houston Nutt is making almost 2.5 million dollars this season, while Larry Porter is only making about $316,500.   When you compare their salaries, Houston Nutt is making almost eight times as much as Coach Porter, and thanks to Coach Nutt’s buyout clause Ole Miss has to pay him six million dollars next year to not coach.  There is no way Memphis can afford to keep Nutt satisfied financially when bigger programs are always lurking and can shell out millions of dollars at a time for a coach.

5.  Coach Porter is a better recruiter than Houston Nutt.

Let me remind everyone that Coach Porter is the 2007 and 2009 Rivals.com National Recruiter of the Year and he is bringing in talented players.  Coach Porter only has one full recruiting class under his belt and he is getting talented players to commit to Memphis.  On the other hand, Coach Nutt won early on at Ole Miss with Ed Orgeron’s players, but failed to bring in the talent necessary to continue to have success at Ole Miss.

Five Reasons to Hire Coach Nutt:

1.  Hiring Coach Nutt will bring some energy and enthusiasm to a dwindling fan base.

There is no doubt that the hiring of Coach Nutt will create a buzz that will permeate throughout the city. Season ticket sales will increase, people will begin to take Memphis football more seriously, and Tiger fans will have a reason to be excited about their football program.  It will also change the fans perspective of the Memphis football program, because right now the perception of most fans is that Memphis does not care about its football program.  Hiring Houston Nutt will show that Memphis is willing to pay top dollar for an elite coach.

2.  Coach Nutt has an impressive resume.

Coach Nutt has a notable resume that includes 19 years of head coaching experience; fourteen of those years are in the SEC, which is one of the best conferences in the nation.  He has three SEC West titles and he is a three time SEC Coach of the Year.  Also, Houston Nutt’s overall record as a head coach at the FBS level is 104-77 and he has four bowl wins too.

3.  Hiring Coach Nutt will make Memphis more appealing to major conferences.

With conference realignment taking place Memphis needs to do everything it can to make itself more appealing to major conferences.  Hiring Coach Nutt will show the nation that Memphis is committed to their football program and willing to pay top dollar for an elite coach.  Houston Nutt has extensive experience coaching in a major football conference, and he will add instant credibility to a program that is desperate for a spot in an AQ conference.

4.  Houston Nutt is undefeated against C-USA teams since becoming a head coach at the FBS level.

Since becoming a head FBS coach in 1996 Houston Nutt has dominated C-USA teams.  He is an impressive 7-0 against Conference USA foes, and Memphis needs somebody who will get them wins inside their conference.  The last time Memphis had a winning record in conference was  in 2008 when the Tigers went 4-4 in conference play.  In fact, Memphis is a staggering 2-19 in conference since 2009, and the Tigers are in desperate need of somebody who can led them to more conference victories.  With his undefeated record against C-USA opponents Houston Nutt can bring a swagger to the Memphis program and make them belive that they can win games against conference foes.

5.  If you cannot bet him, join him.

Memphis knows first hand how good a football coach Houston Nutt is after taking some severe beatings from him in the past.   No Memphis football team has ever defeated Coach Nutt since he became head coach of Arkansas or while he was at Ole Miss.  Houston Nutt’s Rebel teams have all but eradicated the once intense rivalry between Memphis and Ole Miss. In the two contests since Houston Nutt became the Rebel’s head coach he has beaten Memphis by a combined score of 86-38.

CJ Hurt covers college football for MemphiSport. Follow him @churtj09 for live tweets from games.

Photos by JD Meredith and Joe Murphy.

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All Shook Up: R.C. Johnson in his own words

October 11, 2011 by 4 Comments

This article originally appeared in the October 2011 issue of MemphiSport

Much to the chagrin of Geoff Calkins, Jerry “The King” Lawler, and a growing portion of Tiger Nation, R.C. Johnson is still the athletic director at the University of Memphis. He is still the guy who will control the Tigers’ fate in the next round of conference shakeups. He is still guy who thinks he can turn Tiger football into a winning program. He is still the guy that big money boosters support. He is still the guy who hired John Calipari and Josh Pastner. He is still the guy who hired Tic Price and Larry Porter. He is still a huge Elvis fan. And most importantly, he is still in charge.

In the midst of the most scrutiny he has received since arriving in the Bluff City, R.C. Johnson talked with MemphiSport about Tiger football, the BCS, his legacy, pro wrestling and more.

 

What Elvis Presley song best describes the current state of Tiger football?  All Shook Up.

Not Heartbreak Hotel?  Not right now.

What about It’s Now or Never?  Naw, I don’t think so. I think All Shook Up because of changes we have made with the staff recently. Football is so important. It’s going to take some time and we are going to keep working on it. The bottom line is – we need to win games.

What about A Mess of Blues?  You don’t like All Shook Up? [Laughs] They all apply.

Do you think Memphis can be a football town?  Absolutely. I have been here long enough to know. It’s like “If we build it, they will come.” If we win, it will turn around. This is football country. We have a huge Tiger Nation for basketball, bigger than any besides Kentucky. But this is football country.

Why is Memphis not already in a BCS conference?  I think that is a great question. The only missing piece to the puzzle is probably if we were where TCU is in football right now, we would probably be in one. The most important things are football and the TV market.

What is holding Memphis football back from being on the level of a school like TCU or Boise State?  I don’t think anything is holding us back. It is a matter of getting out there and doing it. I know where other budgets are, and I know what our budget is. We are in good stead there. I don’t know if there is anything Larry (Porter) wanted us to do that we haven’t been able to do outside the lines. Same with staffing. He asked for more money for weight coaches. We have two full timers and three graduate assistants just for football weight lifting. In many cases we are ahead of other schools. I think the things are in place now and it is a matter of executing them.

So you are saying Tiger football is ready right now to start competing for the Conference USA championship?  I think now more than ever. The reason I say that is what we’ve been able to do with staff salaries, the money we have been able to put into recruiting and operations, the improvements we have been able to make, the number of times we are on television. All of these things are better than they used to be. And now it is just a matter of getting the recruits in here and we will have a run at it.

What are the three most important parts of your current plan to improve Tiger football?  First is always recruiting. You’ve got to get the recruits in. That would be number one. Number two is probably getting the coaching staff where they are comfortable with one another. And then go from there. You can always put more money into a program. It doesn’t matter if you are Texas or UCLA or Michigan. But we are limited on scholarships. We are at the full amount scholarships, the full amount of staff. We continue to work on improvements for facilities. We are working on a $10 million campaign right now to build a new indoor practice facility.

If a booster called you tomorrow and offered you $100 million for Tiger football, how would you allocate it?  I think we would take a look at the on campus stadium. People don’t believe it, but I would love to have an on campus stadium. If a guy came around and gave us $100 million, we certainly would take a good, hard look at it. But the fact is there are schools that have on campus stadiums that still aren’t winning.

Wouldn’t an on campus stadium help with recruiting? You have to admit, the U of M campus is much nicer than the fairgrounds.  Oh yea, Yea. Absolutely. That’s true. But when we bring in recruits, they think the Liberty Bowl is a pretty neat place. There are a lot of stadiums that aren’t 62,000 seats. We have a new locker room. And with Tiger Lane now, there is a lot of ambiance.

Though you never get close to filling up that 62,000-seat stadium.  No, but the atmosphere is pretty good. I’ve talked to our players, they like it. Now an on campus stadium, I have nothing against it. I’d rather have it. If a guy came with $100 million, that would solve that issue. But that still doesn’t guarantee us to win. No one in any of our BCS talks has ever been critical or concerned about the Liberty Bowl Stadium.

Are you embarrassed that some local high schools have a better video screen than the one at the Liberty Bowl?  I don’t know if embarrassed is the word. We thought we were going to get new JumboTrons this year. That was the plan in place. Then the city had their school system issues. The plan was to get a JumboTron on the south end, a JumboTron on the north end, and a JumboTron at Tiger Lane. But now it has moved from the front burner to the back burner. That again isn’t the cure-all.

If things don’t work out with Coach Porter is there enough money to go hire a big time coach?  Well, I don’t know what kind of money we are talking about. We have never been without all the money we’ve needed to do what we want with coaches. That’s because of the private sector.

When basketball was struggling, you followed up the disaster hire that was Tic Price with the flashy big time hire of John Calipari. Would something like that work for football?  Not necessarily. Other schools have done it and it hasn’t always worked out. I get a lot of that on emails now saying, “We need to get a big name coach.” Again that is not the cure-all. We need to find someone that makes the right fit. I get people who say, “Don’t hire any coaches that have anything to do with the North. Hire only people who are South oriented.” Money is not the issue. It is the fit, and hopefully Larry will get this thing going.

Explain why getting paid to travel and lose to major college football programs is not part of your plan to raise money and rebuild Tiger football?  First of all, the teams that we are playing, we get to play here at home, which generates money for us. Tennessee and Mississippi State both will play us home-and-home. I did contact Notre Dame and asked them about playing a game with them where they would pay us. I’m working on schedules for 2022 and 2023. You have to work that far in advance. Notre Dame has an opening probably in 2030, but no one schedules that far in advance. I tried that because I thought it would be great for exposure. Our budget is $38 million, If a school pays us $500,000, it will probably cost $150,000 to go after we charter the airplane and everything else. $350,000 is not a whole heck of a lot of money. If we couldn’t ever get anyone to come here, the situation would be different.

But wouldn’t losing to Ohio State for money still be better than losing to Arkansas State for free?  Yea, but we want to play some of those schools we think we are going to beat. And we should be able to beat those schools. You look around the country… Tennessee opened up with Montana. Alabama plays North Texas and Kent State. Now East Carolina plays three big money games and they have been kind of successful, but they don’t use all of that money for football. We have been able to raise more money than anyone in conference.

But while the team is losing on a consistent basis, what is wrong with one game a year where you get a big check and national exposure?  There is a camp that wants to do that. There is a camp that wants to play all SEC teams in our nonconference. Another camp wants us to do what we are trying to do which is playing two name teams a year and two smaller conference schools.

What is something that you just started doing recently that looking back you should have started doing sooner to help Tiger football?  We have continued to build facilities. People forget the Billy Murphy complex, where the football offices and complex is, that was all new. We did that when we first got here. Recently we hired a group named Inspire, a marketing firm that worked at Georgia Tech last year. There are nine of them that are here. Their full time job is selling season tickets, primarily football. but. Tennessee did the same thing. That’s probably something we should have done earlier.

What has been your proudest moment as athletic director?  Well the standard answer is to say, “I haven’t had it yet.” That’s always the cute answer I read in Parade magazine. I would say the engagement we have had in the community over a period of time. Also we are graduating better now, and we have zero teams not qualifying by NCAA APR rates. Our GPA is 3.0. And that is good stuff. I think we have the whole community. My two charges when I got here were to get the community involved and raise money.

What has been your biggest regret as athletic director?  One thing is football not being where we want it. I will always regret how the Larry Finch thing was handled. I didn’t know all of the players, and I didn’t know all the ins and out of the community. If I could do that over again, I would make it better. We had to make a change… I’m just not happy with the way it all went down.

How much do you regret not leaking the letter of inquire from the NCAA when Calipari was interviewing for the Kentucky job?  We talked to schools on probation and about 75% of them said if you are really going to do an investigation, you have to keep it as quite as you can because the media will call you every-other-day wanting to know what’s going on. People will clam up because they think their name will be in the paper. We just thought it would be more efficient if we didn’t.

What do you say to people who claim you lucked into the hiring of Josh Pastner?  Josh was always on my list because Calipairi sat here and said, “I want $200,000 to hire an assistant coach.” I almost fell out of my chair. He told me it was Josh Pastner. I didn’t know Josh Pastner anymore than I knew Rick Ross. Once Josh got here, I could see he was high energy and had a bright future. He was the prime candidate to replace John internally, but because of the level of our program I felt I needed to talk to Tim Floyd and people all over. When it got down to it, I didn’t know Josh was packed up ready to go to Kentucky at the time I called him to meet me at my house.

How often do you still talk to Calipari?  Probably weekly.

Does he call you?  Yea or I call him. One or the other. We were together here for nine years. We had lots of interaction.

How much of the conversation is sports related?  About half of it. The other half is probably things he talks about or things I talk about. It’s a different relationship. It’s not the athletic director and the basketball coach. It is two guys who went through some struggles together.

How often to you talk with U of M president Shirley Raines about issues related to the athletic department?  Three or four times a week. I meet with her every Monday morning from 9:00 am to noon. I am on what they call the President’s Council. We have a regular scheduled meeting every two weeks, and talk by phone almost daily.

Does she ever suggest any big ideas or does she just let you do your thing?  We are in this together. She is the boss. We talk about things. She really doesn’t micromanage.

How often to you talk to people connected to BCS conferences and realignment?  Regularly. I have set times I call commissioners and other athletic directors. Some I have known as friends for a long time and others that I think will help us as a program down the road. We also have a committee of people from the private sector who are helping us and making contact with various individuals.

What do the BCS people you talk to think about Tiger football’s recent trend of blowout losses?  They don’t look at it game-by-game. It’s more of a bigger picture type thing.

What do you have to say about Jerry “The King” Lawler speaking out against you and Coach Porter?  I’m taking my complaints straight to Vince McMahon. [Laughs] I’m a WWE guy. I saw Jerry Lawler the other night on TV. He was in the ring with Triple H.

You watch Monday night wrestling?  Oh yeah, RAW.

Who is your favorite wrestler of all time?  Ric Flair, “The Nature Boy.” I think he has been national champion like 462 times. On the other channel, TNT or whatever it is, Hulk and Flair have their own thing going on. It’s a bunch of old guys that used to be with McMahon.

Can you do the Ric Flair “Woo”?  No I can’t. [Laughs]

Would you face your No. 1 critic/Commercial Appeal columnist Geoff Calkins in a wrestling match for charity?  Naw.

Have you ever been fired from a job?  When I was an assistant football coach at the University of Iowa in 1962 or 63.

Do you have plans to retire before the end of your contract?  I haven’t thought about that. My contract ends June 1, 2013. I still enjoy the job.

Do you think Brett Favre should have retired earlier?  [Laughs] Where did that one come from? No. He was still productive and he wanted to do it.

Is there something you are trying to accomplish before you leave?  All sorts of things. I want to get football going. I want to keep the fundraising going, and keep building facilities.

What do you want your legacy to be?  That’s a great question. I haven’t thought about that because I haven’t thought about the retirement aspect. And I think when you know you are getting close to hanging it up, you start think about that stuff. I just think we have come a long way and we have a way to go. I want to keep going. I just don’t think we are done yet, so I haven’t thought about that.


Kevin Cerrito is the managing editor of MemphiSport and host of MemphiSport Live (MSL) every Saturday from 11:00 am – 1:00 pm on Sports 56 WHBQ. MSL was voted 3rd Best Sports Radio Show in the 2010 & 2011 Memphis Flyer Best of Memphis poll.  You can follow him via Twitter @cerrito.

Photos by Chase Gustafson.

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Can Memphis Football Save Their Season?

September 13, 2011 by 1 Comment

The Memphis Tiger football team is already at a cross roads this young season after another blowout loss. It is gut check time and they are going to need to find some sort of inspiration after being outscored in their first two games by a combined score of 106-17.  The offense appears inept and the defense is giving out big plays like we give out candy to trick-or-treaters.

If Memphis is going to right the ship the defense is going to have to improve tremendously.  In the two games Memphis has played the defense has given up 1256 total yards and has yet to hold an opponent under 600 yards.  Big plays (plays of more than 20 yards) have killed the Tigers this season, they gave up eight big plays to Mississippi State and five to Arkansas State.  Memphis needs to have more gap discipline at the line of scrimmage to prevent rushers from getting to the second level and the secondary needs to get deeper in coverage to stop opposing quarterbacks from throwing over their heads.

The offense also needs to improve drastically if the Tigers are going to have any chance of winning games this season.  Averaging 8.5 points per game is not going to cut it offensively and they need to find a way to get their playmakers going.  It does not help that starting tailback Jerrell Rhodes is still injured and will not be back until next week at the earliest.  Rhodes’ injury means that Billy Foster and Artaves Gibson need to step up and carry the load on the ground.

Also, no receiver has emerged as a guy that defenses should fear.  Marcus Rucker can be that guy, he leads the team in receptions and touchdowns this year and if the offensive line can find a way to give the quarterbacks (Reed or Summerlin) more time in the pocket his numbers should improve drastically.

So can this team gain some form of respect and find the courage it takes to save this season and finish with a decent record? Yes they can and starts with a home game this week against FCS foe Austin Peay State University.  Memphis cannot afford to take any opponent for granted, even one like Austin Peay who staggers in with a 9 game losing streak. Coach Porter knows this saying at his Monday luncheon, “We will respect them…they are a good team.”

Conference play begins next Saturday with Southern Methodist coming to town and hopefully the Tigers will be ready.

When asked about realistic goals for the rest of the season Coach Porter said, “We still got ten games left.  We are still in a position to compete for a conference championship, still in position to go to a bowl, but right now we are out of the National Championship picture.”

Coach Porter is right in his assessment of the young season, but Memphis has a lot of work to do if they expect to compete for a C-USA championship.

CJ Hurt covers Memphis Tiger football for Memphis Sport. Follow him @churtj09 for live tweets from the football games this season.

Photo by JD Meredith 

Filed Under: The Big Features, Tiger Football, Web Exclusives Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Surprise! Coach Porter is Back

September 8, 2011 by Leave a Comment

This article originally appeared in the September 2011 issue of MemphiSport.

Looking for a winning season in his second year as head coach of the University of Memphis football program, Coach Larry Porter’s enthusiasm for the game and his hometown shine through.

Sporting a gray sweatshirt, blue shorts, and white cap, University of Memphis football coach Larry Porter crept up on the assembled media that awaited him in the athletic hall at the Murphy Sports Complex following a recent practice.

Several reporters, many of whom were scattered throughout the facility, never witnessed Porter enter the building and make his way to the designated area to answer questions about a floundering program many anticipate will erase the memory of last year’s 1-11 freefall.

Nevertheless, Porter, to his credit, seemed unfazed that media pundits were preoccupied and caught off guard by his appearance for the brief interview session.

Though he may never publically admit it, catching the local press, boosters, and the rest of the Bluff City off guard could essentially emerge as a common theme, of sorts, for the 39-year-old Porter, especially if he can manage to help steer the Tigers to their first winning season in four years.

Heading into only his second full season as a Division 1 head coach, Porter sounds like a man who is destined to quickly resurrect a program and make U of M football relevant in this city once again.

“The enthusiasm is there,” Porter said a little more than a week into the Tigers’ training camp. “The spirit is still high and that’s something we have got to have to become a better football team.”

But whether Porter’s Tigers can win early and often this year is anybody’s guess. So far, all signs point toward them duplicating last year’s one-win season, a tumultuous campaign that included the Tigers going winless in Conference USA.

Despite Porter’s ability to land a number of stellar recruits during the 2011 signing period, coupled with the team’s plan of implementing a spread offense this year, the Tigers are predicted once again to finish last in the C-USA Eastern Division by most writers who cover the league.

“Obviously, there were some growing pains (last year),” said Phil Stukenborg, the Tigers beat reporter for The Commercial Appeal. “But he got through it.”

This year, however, Porter believes he and his staff will make strides toward shifting the program in the right direction. Surely, it won’t be easy, especially with the tough early non-conference schedule.

Add to that a brutal conference schedule that features six bowl teams from last year, and it becomes increasingly evident why Porter, a former U of M running back who starred for the Tigers in the early 90’s, hopes this year would be one in which he can sneak up on everyone.

If nothing else, his track record as one of the top recruiters in the country while serving under LSU coach Les Miles from 2005-2009 is among the reasons U of M athletic director RC Johnson and the Tiger faithful believe Porter is the right choice to revive a program that, for years, has been a revolving door, of sorts, for head coaches.

During a news conference after learning of his abrupt firing, then-U of M coach Tommy West emphatically said with regards to his successor, “Just give him a fair chance or get rid of it (the football program).”

So far, Porter believes school administrators have given him the necessities and leverage to help shift the program in the right direction. After all, coaching the Tigers have been what Porter said deemed “A dream of mine” ever since the U of M basketball team’s dramatic NCAA tournament run ended in a disappointing loss to the Kansas in the 2008 national championship game.

“It’s liking waking up and seeing your kids,” Porter said. “You are always happy and thrilled to see them. Coming home was the same way.”

Only, this time, he hopes coming home will be just as memorable and enjoyable as not only his rookie campaign as a head coach, but his predecessor.

That, after all, will certainly catch the local media by surprise. Once again.

 

Photo by Joe Murphy.

Filed Under: Features Tagged With: , , ,

Big Jack’s Rhymes: Mississippi State 59, Memphis 14

September 3, 2011 by Leave a Comment

As I watched the game I said, “Great Caesar’s ghost,
The Tigers football program is toast.”

The offense spent it’s time sputtering and stewing.
I’m not really sure they knew what they were doing.

The defense was worse because, all the while,
The Bulldogs gained about a third of a mile.

Mississippi State, simply put, just had their way
And I’m glad I wasn’t doin’ the play-by-play.

There is an answer out there somewhere, golly gee.
But for heavens sake don’t look at me .

R.C. and the coach are of one accord.
It’s back to that well known drawing board.

There have been a lot of foul ups along the way
So here and now let me say,

Disaster is imminent it’s looming large
So why not try someone else in charge.

If that doesn’t work-from where I sit
The only thing left to do is quit.

 

Written by Jack Eaton on 9/2/11.  “Big” Jack can be heard every Friday at 8am on KWAM 990 alongside former County Commissioner John Willingham. He was recently inducted into the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame.

Photo by JD Meredith.

Filed Under: Big Jack's Rhymes, The Big Features, Tiger Football, Web Exclusives Tagged With: , , , , ,

5 Reasons why Tiger Football will improve in the 2011 season

August 25, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Expectations for this year’s Memphis Tiger football team are very low.  After all, last year’s Tiger football team was one of the worst teams in the nation finishing with a 1-11 record.  Statistically Memphis ranked in the bottom half of college football in every statistic including finishing 115th in total D, 116th in points for, 117th in both total offense and points against, and 118thin turnover margin.  Do not fret Tigers fans, there is a silver lining in every cloud and here are 5 reasons why Tiger football will get things turned around this year.

1) This is Coach Porter’s second season as head coach

Memphis and head Coach Larry Porter experienced some severe growing pains last year.  Porter bought in new offensive and defensive schemes in his first year as head coach and it took a while for players to get accustomed to the changes.  Now that players are acclimated to the way Coach Porter and his staff want things done everything should run more smoothly this season.  Also, thanks to a full season of games in Porter’s system, the coaches now have a better understanding about the strength and weaknesses of each individual on the team and how to maximize the potential in every player.  Coach Porter has begun to change the culture of Tigers football and fans will begin to see the benefits in this year’s team.

2) They have winnable out of conference games

One of the main reasons Memphis struggled mightily last year was that they played three teams from AQ (automatic qualifiers) conferences last year.  Last year’s out of conference slate included a home game against Tennessee and trips to Mississippi State and Louisville, all of which resulted in blowout losses for the Tigers.  It is a different story this year as the Tigers play just one school from an AQ conference this season (Mississippi St.) and that game is at home. Their other out of conference games are at home against FCS foe Austin Peay and trips to Arkansas State and MTSU (the Tigers’ lone win last year).  The tigers have a legitimate chance to go 3-1 out of conference this year which will bring newfound excitement to the program and cause a huge boost in morale.

3) The in conference schedule is not as difficult as last year

Conference USA must have taken pity on Memphis because the in conference slate is extremely manageable this season.  Memphis plays the two worst teams in the western division (Tulane and Rice), avoid the two best teams in the west (Houston and Tulsa), and they get East Carolina, Marshall, and UAB at home.  They do go to divisional foes UCF and Southern Methodist (best two teams in the division), but Memphis is not going to beat them this year no matter where the games are played.  The Tigers have a real shot at a 3-5 in conference record, which combined with their winnable out of conference schedule would make them bowl eligible this season.

4) There is no pressure on the Tigers this year

Memphis is a young team with very little pressure on them this year. Even though this is Coach Porter’s second year he is still rebuilding the program and he has not yet recruited the types of players he needs to be competitive on a week to week basis.  Only 9 starters return to a team that was 1-11 last year so it is safe to say that Memphis will be the underdog in almost every game they play.  Being the underdog can be an advantage, the lack of pressure will allow the team to play more loosely and relaxed.  If they can get four or five wins this year will be a success.  The Tigers are the hunter not the hunted and they will sneak up on teams who underestimate their ability.

5) Confidence

It is no secret that the more confident your team is the better they will play and the more likely you are to win.  Memphis lacked confidence under Coach Porter last year and it seemed like they did not expect to win.  The familiarity with the system combined with an easier schedule and consistent play will lead to a more confident 2011 Tigers football team.  This season everybody knows what to do which will allow the players to really cut loose on the football field and make more big plays.  Memphis’ confidence will increase with every win they get causing them to become a more dangerous team. 

 C.J. Hurt covers Tiger football for MemphiSport. You can follow him via Twitter @churtj09.

Photo by Joe Murphy.

Filed Under: The Big Features, Tiger Football, Web Exclusives Tagged With: , , ,

MSL: 7.16.11

July 16, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Hour 1:

Grizzlies guard Tony Allen joins Kevin Cerrito and Marcus Hunter to talk about his free basketball camp, the Grizzlies losing at the ESPYs, whether or not he would consider playing overseas during the lockout, what other side item he eats with salmon and mashed potatoes, plus much more. Also, Marcus debuts his Shaquille O’Neal impersonation.

Click here to listen to Hour 1 of the 7.16.11 MSL

Hour 2:

Tiger football head coach Larry Porter joins Kevin Cerrito and Marcus Hunter to talk about the upcoming season, the quarterback situation, BBQ Fest at Tiger Lane, Ole Miss, Fred Smith, Les Miles, and more. Also, the guys announce the winner of the V3 Fights Cage Girl competition. Plus, a “Mad Men vs. Breaking Bad” debate featuring the Memphis Flyer’s Greg Akers.

Click here to listen to Hour 2 of the 7.16.11 MSL

Kevin Cerrito and Marcus Hunter host MSL (MemphiSport Live) every Saturday from 11:00 am – 1:00 pm on Sports 56 WHBQ. MSL was voted 3rd Best Sports Show in the 2010 Memphis Flyer Best of Memphis poll.

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Larry Porter previews the 2011 Tiger Football season on MSL

July 16, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Tiger football head coach Larry Porter joined Kevin Cerrito and Marcus Hunter on MSL to talk about the upcoming season, the quarterback situation, BBQ Fest at Tiger Lane, Ole Miss, Fred Smith, Les Miles, and more.

AUDIO:

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Click here to download Larry Porter’s appearance on the July 16, 2011 MSL

Click here for more MSL interviews.

Kevin Cerrito and Marcus Hunter host MSL (MemphiSport Live) every Saturday from 11:00 am – 1:00 pm on Sports 56 WHBQ. MSL was voted 3rd Best Sports Show in the 2010 Memphis Flyer Best of Memphis poll.

Filed Under: Interviews, The Big Features Tagged With: , , , , , , ,
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