Tulsa’s former coach to join staff

Former Tulsa head coach Bill Blankenship will join the Memphis football program as an offensive analyst for the upcoming season, a person with knowledge of the situation said Monday night.

FOX23, a television station in Tulsa, first reported that Blankenship would join the Tigers. The move will reunite the 58-yearold coach, who was fired by Tulsa in December, with Memphis head coach Justin Fuente, who played quarterback under Blankenship at Union High School in the early 1990s.

Fuente declined to comment on the matter when reached by The Commercial Appeal on Monday.

The addition of Blankenship makes sense given the history between the two coaches. Fuente was a rising sophomore when Blankenship took the head coaching job at Union, and the pair grew close over the next three seasons.

“He was smart, he was intelligent and he really knew the game,” Blankenship said of Fuente in 2012. “My three sons used to wonder if I had a picture of Justin beside my bed stand. He was one of my favorites, there’s no doubt about that.”

In his first two seasons at Tulsa, Blankenship led the Golden Hurricane to two bowl appearances, including a 31-17 victory over Iowa State in the 2012 Liberty Bowl, and an overall record of 19-8. In 2013, however, the program transitioned from Conference USA to the American Athletic Conference and saw a steep decline. Tulsa won just five of 24 games in the following two years, resulting in Blankenship’s dismissal.

As an analyst at Memphis, and not an assistant coach, Blankenship will assist the coaching staff rather than instruct players on the field.

The Golden Hurricane will host the Tigers on Oct. 23.