HIGH STANDARDS
Tigers start practice Thursday confident, motivated to build on last year’s success
There is a fine line, Memphis football coach Justin Fuente says, between confidence and complacency, between knowing that success can be repeated and believing that it will be repeated, automatically. “I think it’s important for us to make sure that we highlight the reason,” he explained. “Not just the success, but the reason behind that, the reason behind the success that they had.”
The fourth-year coach was referring, of course, to the Tigers’ breakout 2014 season, when they won 10 games for the first time since 1938. They closed out the year with a remarkable sevengame winning streak, capped by a double-overtime victory over BYU in the Miami Beach Bowl. On paper, it was among the best seasons in the history of Memphis football.
In the eight months since, the success of 2014 has had ripple effects in and outside of the program. In the community, there’s a new buzz about the upcoming season, increased season ticket sales and heightened expectations. Within the team itself, there’s more pressure, but also more confidence.
When the Tigers begin practice
Thursday, roughly a month before their season opener against Missouri State at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium, they will begin to confront all of these factors, the things that come with newfound success.
For better or worse, whatever happens in 2015 will be viewed by many through the prism of 2014. The Tigers understand this and, in some ways, even embrace it. Senior linebacker Wynton McManis said a new standard has been set for the program.
“That’s what we want to do every year. That’s what it is now,” McManis said. “There’s nowhere to go but up from this. We just want to keep progressing, keep getting better, because really, outside people think last year might’ve been just a one-time thing. But it’s not.”
These are the heights Fuente hoped the program would reach when he inherited it more than three years ago. When the former TCU assistant arrived here, the Tigers had won only three games in their past two seasons combined. First, they had to build a program. Now, there’s a new challenge: Dealing with success.
Senior tight end Alan Cross said last year’s performance helped spark a confidence shift on the team, describing it as a sea- son that put Memphis football “back on the map.” The Tigers received national recognition by finishing the season ranked No. 25 in the Associated Press poll, and a swell of regional attention followed.
Cross, a Millington native, has experienced it firsthand. He said he’s heard from a host of friends and neighbors who bought season tickets this year for the first time, even though they’ve always lived just a short drive away.
“[Last year] kind of showed people that Memphis is like it used to be, back when DeAngelo [Williams] played and stuff like that and they went to bowl games every year,” Cross said. “Last year kind of opened up our eyes like hey, we can hang with people like Ole Miss, UCLA, stuff like that, regardless of how high they’re ranked in the AP poll or whatever. It just showed us that hey, we can hang with the best of them.”
In addition to that confidence, McManis said the Tigers enter 2015 with an extra level of motivation. There’s pressure to win, and follow up 2014 with another strong year, but that pressure isn’t necessarily a detriment.
“Last year motivated us more than anything, because it showed us what it takes,” McManis said. “We know how much work we put into it and how hard we worked. It showed us what it took, and it showed us how good we can be.”
When asked if last year set a new standard for Memphis football, Fuente said such benchmarks are more about method than results. He doesn’t want players to focus on winning a certain number of games, for example, but rather building on the work ethic and discipline that the departing players provided.
“Last year, I think, serves as proof to our kids that the way we’re going about things works,” Fuente said. “For me, the standard is the way that group worked and the way they went about their business and the way they avoided distractions, how they competed through adverse situations. To me, that’s the standard that the next group’s got to live up to.”
That process begins Thursday, when the Tigers take the field for their first preseason practice. Their summer conditioning workouts are over. Daily practices, and a handful of two-a-days, are ahead.
Though repeating or surpassing last year’s success will be a challenge, McManis said he and his teammates are ready.
“We’re trying to take it to the next step, go even further than we went last year,” he said. “We saw what we were able to do with all our hard work [in 2014], so we put in more work. We walk around, you know, the chest is a little bit bigger just because we are Memphis. We’re here to stay.”