TigerCT Wrote:I was going to sit on the sidelines for this thread, but I can't. As far as I'm concerned, being a fan gives you the right to have high/low expectations, question the coaches and want results. I am a member of the Highland Hundred and a lifelong season ticket holder and I'm freaking tired of losing to teams from the Sunbelt. Injuries or not, that is on the coach. I'm excited about seeing if the D improves with the addition of Walton. I'm not ready to fire anyone, but I've earned the right to expect results. It's OK to question the old guard and want more! Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that how this country was founded? Take the blinders off.

Exactly. People on this board think if you say anything bad about a coach or player or even want more you are a...miserable.

GoTigersGo10 Wrote:I am a huge UofM supporter but recently have had enough of Tommy. Whenever I see the pay scales I see he is pretty high up there but does give us results. Don't say the bowl thing. You can be horrible and make a bowl game these days with the 98 bowls. For close to a Mil a year I just want to at least beat sunbelt teams and a few conference games...IS THAT TOO MUCH TO ASK? Oh and maybe beat the team that can't win a game in their own conference!!! If you don't think Tommy is on the hot seat you are nuts. R.C. might not be the smartest man but he realizes that we are battling mediocre years to come.

I have never read anything like that anywhere before. I must reevaluate my entire perspective about the matter.

Quote:It's OK to question the old guard and want more!

I can't tell if that is or not.

When are we going to stop blaming facilities for everything? I agree they keep us from competing with SEC schools locally but we are NOT in the SEC, he has ebough to win stinking C-USA and we haven't scared that really, even with the greatest Tiger ever and guys like Wimprine, Avery and other NFL type players. We have as much or more than most conference teams, he needs to be taking us to the Liberty Bowl every so often, not the NO Bowl every year and get blown away by yet another Sun Belt team in their first bowl game EVER!!!!

I think he's on hot seat this year. I love TW and could be very content with him. However, if the goal is to take the next step with bowl appearances and conf. affiliation, it might be time to get someone a little more dynamic - John L Smith.

Claw Wrote:There is no need to change coaches if we aren't going to upgrade the facilities. As far as I'm concerned, Tommy is the man until something happens on the stadium front. If he's still losing then, we can revisit the topic.

I strongly agree....I think we are at the point where our facilities more than the coaching will improve our recruiting.....And I truly believe that our records over the last 3 years have been hampered more by injuries than by coaching....West knows how to win and recruit at a University with D1 facilities; but he was done in there by unrealistic expectations at that time just as it appears may be happening here....Its not unrealistic to expect to compete for a CUSA championship (we WERE 2nd in the East last year)....And no matter what Tommy does, the Liberty Bowl is the best bowl we can hope for unless we get a Boise or Hawaii type run; and that is what he is scheduling for instead of playing 4 SEC teams a year....Say all you want about the Sun-Belt losses, but injuries and circumstances (weather cancellations, player death) caused last years inconsistencies...

Unless 4-5 million per season can be found for the football program alone, bringing in another coach is going to be like every other time that a coach was fired. As someone pointed out earlier, there is a damn good reason that a life span as coach at Memphis is short and highly unsuccessful. It takes money to build and maintain facilities, hire and keep good assistants, and present a good program to the recruits and the public...like out basketball is funded to do. I don't have to defend the current coach but anything with a clear head can look at four decades and see a trend here that only Pancoast and Dockery managed to avoid. I want our program to flourish but it takes far more than message board posts to make it work. This same, lame arguement keeps coming up and many avoid the truth that until the 4-5 million is found for football, competing on a basis like most want is just not going to happen. It is an arms race and we are losing. Someone mentioned John L. Smith and, if you recall, he left Louisville which was on the rise, for Michigan State which didn't work out so well. Would he come here and take a job where his budget is about half of what he is used to working with? Anyway we slice it, it takes money to win in today's big time football marketplace. Right now, the school is doing it on the cheap and it affects every aspect of the program....scheduling, coaching staff, recruiting, and marketing as well as bricks and mortar. As I said earlier, it took three decades to upgrade our practice facility. That really tells me that we are ready to compete with the BCS schools, lol. This is a business. Most fail in the first few years years to underfunding. Guess what. We are a business that is scraping by and bordering on failing. However, we are doing things that were not done previously and that is something to be grateful for. We all want more. Maybe we should open our wallets and write a check, save the excuses, and make this happen. This program will not run on message board posts...it takes money.

quick question - what was our conference record last year?

mewes Wrote:Am I the only one that feels that tommy's job really depends on next years results,

I would say there at least a couple hundred malcontents who think like you - several of them regularly post on messageboards. By comparison, I think there are at least 25,000 Tiger fans who consider Tommy West to be the right coach for Memphis and support his efforts to build the kind of upper-level program that we all want.

GoTigersGo10 Wrote:I am a huge UofM supporter but recently have had enough of Tommy.

Are you saying you are a discontented lard-ass?

tigerjeb Wrote:quick question - what was our conference record last year?

6-2

Gray Avenger Wrote:

mewes Wrote:Am I the only one that feels that tommy's job really depends on next years results,

I would say there at least a couple hundred malcontents who think like you - several of them regularly post on messageboards. By comparison, I think there are at least 25,000 Tiger fans who consider Tommy West to be the right coach for Memphis and support his efforts to build the kind of upper-level program that we all want.

Were these the same people who were booing the "Booze It or Lose It" ad on the Jumbotron after the MTSU game?

Are we talking 25k "fans" or 25k "supporters"

ZachMan Wrote:When are we going to stop blaming facilities for everything?

When are we going to stop calling for coaches heads after every bit of adversity? Tommy West is the right coach for Memphis.

fsquid Wrote:Are we talking 25k "fans" or 25k "supporters"

How about 25,000 "spectators"? I will leave the break-down of sub-classifications to you.

ZachMan Wrote:When are we going to stop blaming facilities for everything? I agree they keep us from competing with SEC schools locally but we are NOT in the SEC, he has ebough to win stinking C-USA and we haven't scared that really, even with the greatest Tiger ever and guys like Wimprine, Avery and other NFL type players. We have as much or more than most conference teams, he needs to be taking us to the Liberty Bowl every so often, not the NO Bowl every year and get blown away by yet another Sun Belt team in their first bowl game EVER!!!!

Our facilities don't compare to many Ohio Valley Conference schools. Most Sun Belt programs have better facilities. The majority of CUSA programs have MUCH better facilities.....


Yes, facilities are a HUGE issue. I remember recruits coming into the weightroom and LAUGHING at what we had.

Here are pics from a few other programs...

http://sorinexcustom.com/images/fac/UCF/UCF.html

http://sorinexcustom.com/images/fac/Jack...rsity.html

http://athleticfacilitydesign.com/v2i4/i...art1-2.jpg

http://fausports.cstv.com/ot/fau-strength.html

Gray Avenger Wrote:

fsquid Wrote:Are we talking 25k "fans" or 25k "supporters"

How about 25,000 "spectators"? I will leave the break-down of sub-classifications to you.

You are the one that is quick to label. I simply wanted to get your view on what kind of spectators these were.

MemphisTigerPawr Wrote:I dare say a lot of people were ready to fire Calipari a few years ago too.

Ain't that the truth...I can remember getting digitally hammered by some of the folks who now frequent "The Other Board That Shall Remain Nameless" for being an ardent Calipari supporter just 3 seasons ago.

GermantownTiger Wrote:

MemphisTigerPawr Wrote:I dare say a lot of people were ready to fire Calipari a few years ago too.

Ain't that the truth...I can remember getting digitally hammered by some of the folks who now frequent "The Other Board That Shall Remain Nameless" for being an ardent Calipari supporter just 3 seasons ago.

Name two other than TG4 or Btiger.....

Am I the only one that feels this topic has come up many times and been discussed ad nauseum?
Tommy is the coach. Support the coach. Easy enough.