As I sat in the press box typing, I could not stop staring out over an empty Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium as thousands of pieces of confetti floated freely through the wind.
It was hard to believe only an hour earlier the confetti cannons blasted as Memphis coach Justin Fuente hoisted the American Athletic Conference trophy after only his third year at the helm.
It’s surreal being in an empty stadium after the home team wins a championship. The thousands of players, coaches and fans leave behind a striking silence and a lot of trash. Add in the fact that the Tigers had just won their first conference title since 1971, and it’s even more surreal.
As soon as the final horn sounded, the players headed straight for the band and student section, and many of the students hopped the wall to meet the players in the middle.
After directing the Mighty Sound of the South through the University of Memphis’ fight song, they headed back to midfield for the trophy presentation by AAC Commissioner Mike Aresco.
Somewhere in the midst of the chaos, Fuente shared and emotional embrace with his wife, and the third-year coach, who is sure to be a hot commodity for schools with coaching vacancies this offseason, wiped tears off his face on his way to the podium where he addressed the remaining Tiger fans from the 35,102 that showed up.
That’s when the confetti blasted, and that’s when it started to really set in – Memphis Tigers 2014 American Athletic Conference Football Champions, as the scoreboard read.
Not only did Memphis win its conference, it completed, arguably, the best regular season in program history, which pretty amazing considering where the program was each of the last four seasons.
“Wait ’til this year,” the athletic department said before and each week throughout the season.
No one believed them, including myself. How could we? They won three games in 2013. Six wins would have been a good year, but the Tigers went ahead and won nine games and the conference title.
The man most responsible for turning the program around spent Saturday evening deflecting credit.
“I don't think I can say enough good things about them and just the way they've worked,” Fuente said of his team. “I don't know if we're the most talented team around, but they certainly play together and they certainly have some toughness about them.”
The players, especially those juniors and seniors, deserve a ton of credit. They stuck with the U of M through some of its darkest days.
But Fuente turned the program around. He changed the culture, and did what many thought to be impossible. For that, his phone is about to start ringing off the hook with offers from schools looking for a new football coach.
I don’t know what he’ll do. Obviously, he’s going to say all the right things just like John Calipari did, and I’m not at all suggesting Justin Fuente is John Calipari. But have no doubt, the offers are coming, and Fuente probably won’t be here forever.
Right now, though, it doesn’t really matter because Fuente is here, and, for the first time in a while, the Memphis football team is a winner.
