After six straight seasons of losing football under former head coach Rip Scherer, The University of Memphis football squad is hoping new head coach Tommy West will lead the team out of mediocrity.
“He’s a player’s coach who’s been there and had the bowl wins so we trust him,” said senior linebacker DeMorrio Shank.
West was promoted to the top position from defensive coordinator in December to replace Scherer, who in six seasons as head coach amassed a record of 22-44.
With West, who led the Clemson Tigers to three bowl appearances and a 31-28 record as head coach from 1993-98, comes a new Tiger offense led by new offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner. In addition, eight offensive starters return from last season, including Tiger quarterbacks Travis Anglin, Neil Suber and Scott Scherer.
Fichtner is hoping his new scheme will improve an offense which finished the 2000 season ranked 111th of 114 Division I-A schools. And while strides have been made, West said Wednesday the Tiger offense, which features a three-receiver, one-back spread attack, still has a long way to go before the season opener at Mississippi State next Monday night.
“We’re not where we need to be,” West said Wednesday after Memphis’ second pre-season scrimmage. “We still have time, but we have a long way to go.”
While the scrimmage featured redshirt freshman Danny Wimprine completing 11-of-17 passes for 60 yards as well as Sugar Sanders gaining 49 yards on 12 carries, West said the new offense still accounted for too many errors.
“I could go down my whole list from dropped balls to balls that should have been big plays that we didn’t throw right to fumbles,” said West. “We’ve made way too many mistakes.”
Although the Tigers typically scrimmage twice before the regular season, West has not ruled out scrimmaging again before Monday’s opener to work out the offensive kinks.
Defensively, the Tigers feel they can be as strong and perhaps stronger than last year’s defense, which finished the season ranked first nationally against the run and fifth overall.
“Coach is leading us in a great direction,” said senior defensive lineman Tony Brown. “We’re trying to be No. 1 (defensively). We finished last year No. 5, but we can beat that. If we finish No. 1, we can win a bowl.”
At 6-3, 262 pounds, Brown is expected to anchor a defense which lost six starters from last season, including NFL draft picks Idrees Bashir, Marcus Bell and Michael Stone.
Three defensive players stood out at the scrimmage last week - Brown, junior strong safety Glenn Sumter and sophomore defensive end Treveco Lucas. Each player recorded six tackles, including two by Brown for lost yardage.
The Tigers have been picked by Conference USA coaches to finish seventh of 10 teams in the league. Louisville, last year’s conference champion, was picked to repeat, followed by East Carolina and Southern Mississippi. Louisville (1-0) opened up the college football season Thursday night with a 45-24 win over New Mexico State in the John Thompson Foundation Challenge Classic.
“I don’t like being picked seventh,” said West, “but we have to go do something about it. What will matter is where we’re ranked at the end of the season.”
Sumter, who led the team with five interceptions in 2000, was the only Memphis player selected to the preseason All-Conference First Team.
The Tigers’ schedule, which opens Monday with a nationally-televised game against 20th-ranked Mississippi State in Starkville, also features a tough road game against eighth-ranked Tennessee in Knoxville. Memphis will play four of its seven conference games at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium as well as two others against UT-Chattanooga (Sept. 8) and South Florida (Sept. 22).
