From the Memphis, TN Commercial Appeal - Breaking News on Mon. Morning Tommy West has been fired as head coach of the University of Memphis football team, according to a source close to the situation. Memphis athletic director R.C. Johnson told West in a meeting this morning. The firing comes two days after Memphis lost to Tennessee, 56-28, dropping the team's record to 2-7. West entered the season with a 47-51 record at Memphis, making him the third winningest coach in the program's history. West-coached teams played in five bowl games in the past six seasons after playing in only two bowls before his arrival. He was hired by Rip Scherer as defensive coordinator in 2000, then became head coach after Scherer was fired following a sixth consecutive losing season. The Tigers went 5-6 and 3-9 in West's first two seasons before going 24-13 the next three as running back DeAngelo Williams became the cornerstone of the program. During the Williams era, the Tigers were known for an explosive offense, a spark that had been missing under Scherer. This year has been marked with fan discontent. The Tigers beat Tennessee-Martin and UTEP, but lost to Ole Miss, Middle Tennessee, Marshall, UCF, Southern Miss and East Carolina before Saturday's game at Tennessee. The loss to East Carolina was particularly troubling, as fewer than 5,000 fans attended a nationally televised Tuesday night game.
Gus Malazan (AU) Tropper Taylor (AU) Kirby Smith (UA) Larry Porter (LSU) All have been mentioned as candidates. Gus is thought to be the leader for the job at this point.
Malazan & Taylor seem to be the objects of a lot of hope around Memphis. However, Porter is a U of M alum so who knows. It appears that West is going to finish out the season, but in a press conference today, he hit the school and the AD pretty hard about not supporting the program - so we'll see.
There is a lot of talk of a $1.2 mil deal for Porter, with Fred 'FedEx' Smith ponying up some cheese for upgrades.
We will hear his name anytime they have a job opening but I doubt Memphis is going to take someone with no head coaching and/or coordinator experience. Off the wall candidate rumors so far: Phil Fulmer, Lou, and Ogeron
No question about Porter. Some major supporters in Memphis have been close to him since he played for Memphis. I don't know what will happen but his name is the first one mentioned on most talk radio.
Maybe Crowton will get "promoted" to HC at Memphis...Rodriguez get "demoted" from UM...and become OC at LSU. Come on, you gotta admit that's about as plausible as some of the conspiracy theories out there concerning the SEC refs. (I don't really believe the conspiracies that much...I believe the SEC refs are just that bad.)
