West went on a tangent at the news conference when he was fired, saying publically that the school should either 'put something into it, or do away with it.' Watch it, it's entertaining and enlightening.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLk06dQlyAEMemphis is loaded with issues concerning football. They tried to bring an inexperienced coach on the cheap who is an alumnus and can do one thing - recruit - but has not even been a coordinator yet, and it's blown up in their faces. The coach at Ark State, Hugh Freeze (some of you may remember that name from the movie 'The Blind Side') is a former Memphis area HS coach who is starting to have a little success, and now his name - and every other coach available - is being thrown around. If he knows better, and he probably does, he will steer clear of Memphis football.
Their football team has been starved financially for decades. For years they had to use my HIGH SCHOOL alma mater's artificial practice field when it rained because theirs was inadequeate. They desperately need an on-campus stadium (they look at ours and drool) but are stuck using the Liberty Bowl, which is two miles away from the campus, outdated, and in disrepair because the city hasn't taken proper care of it. They are a program that is loaded with natural advantages, but can't get off the mat b/c they put ZERO money into it.
Now the rumor is that if they don't get into a BCS conference soon they are dropping football. Actually, that has been a rumor for decades. Basketball has supported them for a couple of generations now.
Whatever you think of SMU football, be thankful we are not Memphis.
Posted: Sat Sep 10, 2011 11:57 pm