Memphis no longer a ‘coach killer’
Norvell’s new staff is emblematic of the Tigers’ culture change
Memphis football coach Mike Norvell sat in the third row of the defensive meeting room at the Murphy Athletic Complex on Saturday afternoon, watching and listening to each of the seven assistant coaches he hired over the past month.
They were speaking to the media for the first time, explaining how they ended up at Memphis, and how Norvell convinced them to come here.
New defensive coordinator Adam Fuller talked about the first conversation he had with Norvell, how “it felt like I was talking to an old high school friend.”
New special teams coordinator Pete Lembo said he hung up the phone after talking to Norvell the first time and told his wife, ‘‘Wow. This guy really gets it.”
New offensive coordinator Kevin Johns insisted that “any offensive coach in the country would love to work here, would love to learn from Coach Norvell.”
Why Memphis isn’t a ‘coach killer’ anymore
As this was going on, as each one of Norvell’s new assistant coaches walked in front of the cameras to praise him, one thought kept popping up in my head:
Almost none of these guys would have come to Memphis even five years ago.
This, of course, is the result of Norvell’s growing reputation throughout college football. He’s lost a dozen assistant coaches since arriving at Memphis and all but one of them either received a promotion or moved on to a Power Five job.
It’s another reminder of what’s been built since former coach Justin Fuente was hired in 2012, and the investment Memphis made in football. Because earlier this decade, before the Tigers’ current bowl streak began, coaches wouldn’t dare declare what Fuller did Saturday.
“When you work in college football, you want to be at a place where football is really important,” he said. “Memphis is that.”
Compare that to seven years ago, when Memphis fired Larry Porter after two seasons.
I was covering Virginia Tech for The Washington Post at the time, and Hokies defensive coordinator Bud Foster’s name came up as a candidate. When asked about it, though, Foster labeled Memphis as a “coach killer” job.
“Their administration is crazy,” he said back then. “They’ve got false visions of grandeur.”
Turns out they didn’t, because Memphis has gone from a coach killer to a coach maker since then. Just look at Norvell’s recent hires for proof.
He watched seven assistant coaches depart for other jobs over the past six weeks, including his offensive,
It’s indicative of the change in the game, according to Hardaway. Teams are shooting a high volume of 3-point attempts, which has forced coaches to adjust their strategy on the glass.
“You have to stay on the perimeter and box out,” Hardaway said. “It’s a weird game nowadays because you don’t go back to the paint and box out. You have to box out on the perimeter because all those long shots are bouncing long.”
“We have to adjust and read the bounce better, and rebound outside of our areas,” he added
After all, it’s not a coincidence that AAC teams like Memphis, Tulane and Tulsa rank at the bottom of the league in offensive rebounds allowed, and at the top in opponent 3-point field goal attempts.
Mark it as another area where Hardaway is adjusting to the college level. In his years with the Orlando Magic, the NBA featured all-time greats like Charles Barkley and Dennis Rodman, who made rebounding popular. That’s not the case anymore. “These kids, that’s the last thing on their mind, is rebounding,” Hardaway said. “They want to score, they want the glamorous stuff, and rebounding is dirty and nasty.”
And on this team, in particular, Hardaway doesn’t have the same luxury on the interior that he had while coaching Memphis signees James Wiseman and Malcolm Dandridge — overpowering post players — at East High School.
Even when Memphis does clear out opponents, it still has trouble gathering missed shots. For Hardaway, that can be the most frustrating part.
It’s why he decided to start Victor Enoh over Isaiah Maurice and Mike Parks Jr. at Tulane. The sophomore was “dominating the glass in practice.”
And after allowing 47 secondchance points over the last three games, Hardaway knew it was time to make a change and send a message to his team.
“We’re not trying to please people,” Hardaway said. “We’re trying to win basketball games.”