I sat for a few minutes yesterday and pinched myself. I just wanted to confirm that the University of Memphis did indeed make a positive move related to its football program.
Memphis began playing college football in 1912 under the pseudonym West Tennessee State Normal School. Its first game versus Memphis University School perfectly foreshadowed a nearly century-long struggle and was anything but normal – neither team scored a single point. Between its inaugural season and now, the word that most closely resembles Memphis football is “anonymous.”
Memphis’ last championship of any kind came in 1971, when the Tigers were crowned Missouri Valley Conference Champions – a championship the Tigers won three times – with a 5-6 record.
Even looking back to what some call Memphis’ “heyday” – a period in the early 2000s under Tommy West – is underwhelming. Memphis went to five bowl games during that span [New Orleans Bowl in ‘03, GMAC Bowl in ‘04, Motor City Bowl in ‘05, New Orleans Bowl in ‘07 and Saint Petersburg Bowl in ‘08], but never seriously battled for Conference USA supremacy.
Truthfully, Memphis has made an inordinate number of crushing gaffes in its handling of its football program. Yesterday, though, it all may have changed with the hire of TCU offensive coordinator Justin Fuente.
Fuente, a 35-year-old native of Tulsa, Okla., emerged as a hot commodity in the coaching ranks after joining the Horned Frogs staff in 2007. As quarterbacks coach and co-offensive coordinator, Fuente tutored Andy Dalton and Casey Pachall and helped build a record-breaking offense. In both of Fuente’s first two seasons as coordinator, TCU set single-season school records for touchdowns, points scored and first downs while also ranking among the nation’s most productive units. From 2009, Fuente’s first season as offensive coordinator, to 2011, TCU averaged 450 total yards of offense per game.
Having recruited Texas high-schoolers to TCU, Fuente also understands the challenges of competing for talent at a program of a lesser brand than area heavyweights such as Tennessee and Arkansas.
After further review, I don’t think I was dreaming. Memphis got it right.
