@@strangebrew1231 Tommy took us to back to back bowl games with QB Winprine and RB DeAngelo Williams. He had the goods, the program wasn't supported like it should have been. Larry Porter took us to new lows.
Coach West was a good coach but was dealt a sh*tty hand (but made the most with it) while he could. Coach Porter was a good recruiter (LSU) but his overall knowledge of X’s & O’s, administration and game management were sorely lacking. Coach Fuente was a positive blend of the two. What’s more important is that they finally gave him what the other two coaches didn’t have: Time & Support.
A decade later, we are still bleeding blue. Just that now, we’ve got more people supporting our football program and Coach West helped start a new era here in Memphis. He was right, “We love this city, we love this university, we love this football program.” Regardless of whatever sport our school has put effort, blood, and sweat into, we’ve come really far in it all. But today is our College Gameday... Go Tigers Go!! #memphistigers #ibleedblue #stripeup
God Bless Tommy West! He left with a strong statement to fans and administrators. Give him a chance and ask what you can do for the Tiger Football program. Never a more poignant speech than this one from a resigning Coach.
Well you have to thank RC for fully investing in basketball...during his years we had the best runs in tiger history. So I guess something had to suffer.
@@TheBsheep While that's easy to say the truth is RC was actively pitting hoops against football. He was literally trying to kill the football program. Just go back and look at the things Johnson did. He hired West because he thought he would fail.
Tommy was the last Coach we hired that wasn't looking to leave as soon as possible... I really liked him and I wanted him to win so badly... The last coach we had that didn't live in "Coach speak" land... Told it how it was... We should look at him again when Ryan runs away...
Hey, that was SO great! Agree with everything and I'm a Kentucky fan. Sometimes as fans we only see W's and L's...but thats not half the story. I wish more coaches would say this stuff while they are the head coach. Kentucky is the same way. Pour money into the basketball team, but just let football fend for itself. Tired of programs like these, but still support the teams, coaches, and players. WELL SAID COACH!!!
I'm a Clemson Tiger fan and Tommy West is as fine a man and football coach as you'll ever find. He wasn't successful as a coach at Clemson but he is remembered here with great fondness. Memphis administration and fans would do good to listen very carefully to what he has to say about your program and follow his advice. Best of luck to you, Coach West, wherever you land.
This is happening to so many mid-major programs right now. I go to Fresno State and it has the same problem. Memphis is right in the middle of SEC region and Fresno State is in the middle of PAC 10 country and we're constantly losing talent to USC, UCLA, and CAL. We have players from Fresno that want to play at USC and UCLA and not even for their hometown university. I'm sure many coaches from mid-major programs are feeling this right now. fans just need to step up and support no matter what
Tommy is telling the god honest truth!! The WHOLE city is negative about everything!! Nothing ever gets accomplished here without someone bitching..... I hate seeing the Memphis football program in the state it is in right now.....
No matter how good tiger football gets, memphis will always be a basketball city :/ football could win another conference championship and in the same year basketball could finish with a .500 season...AND tiger basketball would still get more attention in the press, media, etc.
The person who said the whole city is negative about everything is right on the money. I don't understand why people consider Memphis a great sports town. Dallas is a great sports town. The Cowboys can lose their first 8 games, and people will complain like crazy, but they'll still show up for the next game, and still talk that trash like Cowboy fans about how they're going to win. When Jordan and Pippen first left Chicago and they had those down years, they were still selling out for the first few seasons. That would never happen with the Grizzles or if we had an NFL team. We only support our teams here when expectations are very high. Everything here is negative from sports to everything else, but it's not completely all people in Memphis. Much of it comes from people living in the surrounding areas who might be fans of their local sports teams, but really live to tear down and criticize anything that goes on in Memphis or other larger cities in the mid-south.
My son played for Tommy West. He was awesome. 5 Bowls in 6 years. Most of his assistants were allowed to be hired away to bigger programs. Where is Memphis football now?
@@bryanheater2730 Tommy West is not the enemy. He spoke the truth. Only thing at the liberty bowl when he was coach was a barn. If we were investing in football when he was coach or before, we probably we would have made the first cut into the Big East and probably the Big12 afterwards.
Hope today Memphis defeats Ole Miss. I've rooted passively for years for Cincinnati (that's the correct spelling), Louisville and Memphis. When the current Notre Dame coach moved on from Cincinnati, that was a drag; when Browning Nagle quarterbacked Louisville to victory over the bloody ones, that was glory. Jus git her dun today, football athletes and folk in Memphis.
I bleed Ole Miss Red, Blue, and Grey, but EVERYTHING Tommy West said is right on the money. Look at the stands on any Liberty Bowl footage you see--nobody's there. seen bigger turnouts at some HS games. Maybe put up a basketball goal or two near restrooms or concessions to increase ticket sales if the administration and fans won't get behind the program.
I don't even know where to begin.... I was an invited walk-on in 1986, this school with a 56,000 seat "Bowl Stadium", world class practice facilities and a city with no pro football team, could not recruit worth a damn. It has been the joke in the country for over 30 years. They could get ever player that falls through the cracks, every player that is academically challanged, all the southern football players who never got a letter or call from this school...it is just sad.
His replacement was one of the worst coaches in FBS history. Larry Porter won 3 games in 2 years. Then Fuente brought it back. Now they're at least competitive every year. As long as they are at or above .500 that's way better than they used to be in this era
@dolphinbuc Larry Porter will be at the podium after the 2012 season, although no fault of his own. They need to invest in the Tiger football program the way they do in basketball.
Everything he said was true. Unless RC and everyone else is fired, and the program is completely rebuilt from the ground up, with younger staff, the football program will continue to be the gutter shit it has been since the 1950s.
y he didn't used this kind of anger while he was coaching the time? Tommy just can't coach and recruit at all....tommy should be happy he doesn't need to coach but still get pay $3millions.
Those are excuses. Many coaches win and succeed without BCS level facilities or money. It all comes down to coaching. A great coach has the ability to make players better, attract a strong staff, and put together solid game plans. The fans ARE demanding better. It's time for Memphis to spend the money to hire a GREAT coach. The FANS have suffered through 7 mediocre coaches are enough is enough. Like West said, if Memphis won't do that, close it down.
Hey coach, you don't a shotgun qb draw on 4th and 1 against Ole Miss your last year. Don't talk about the fans. You have die hard fans who buy season tickets to a losing program every year. Win games. You should have won conference and played in the Liberty Bowl when we had Wimprine, Avery, and #20, but the defense couldn't stop anyone, and the special teams were terrible. That is not the A.D's fault, nor the fans.
