re: Frank Wilson finalist for UTSA

quote:

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there's a reason that tommy west was the first coach to take them to a bowl since spook murphy in 1970 quote: Memphis hit rock bottom BECAUSE of Porter. He was the only coach I can remember who was verifiably worse than Curly Hallman. memphis hit rock bottom because that is where they usually are. their high point is bowl eligibility

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For the first time since Rex Dockery's untimely death, that program is actually moving up. Fuente is the first coach since Fred Pancoast to be hired away to another job, and that was in the early Seventies. They were more of a mediocre program than a bad one when I was a kid. Because they didn't play in a conference until the 90s, they ended up playing Ole Miss every year, and UT, State, and Arkansas often. That obviously translated into a lot of automatic losses.

However, with the increase in funds and TV exposure with the move to the American, Memphis is FINALLY spending some money on football. Attendance is way up over 3 years ago, and they just made a well regarded follow up hire to Fuente. I think they are going to become a fixture at the top of the American, along with Houston and Cincinatti. That's a solid step up from where they used to be.