New Memphis Head Coach announced his coaching staff. How does it compare with the first staff former coach Justin Fuente had and how does it compare to last year’s staff?
We’ll first take a look at Fuente’s first staff.
Offensive Coordinator/Running backs- Darrell Dickey. Coach Dickey has been around the block a time or two and brought some HC experience to assist Fuente.
QB Coach- Brad Cornelson. Coach Cornelson was a relatively unknown at the time. He came to Memphis from Northeastern State where he was the OC for 3 years.
WR Coach- Holman Wiggins. Coach Wiggins was a known recruiter in the SEC. He came to Memphis after spending 11 years in the SEC.
TE/ST Coach- James Shibest. Coach Shibest was another known recruiter in the SEC and a special teams guru.
OL Coach- Vance Vice. Coach Vice had been an OL coach for 13 years. He was an important hire due to the fact Memphis’ OL at the time wasn’t very good.
Defensive Coordinator- Barry Odom. Coach Odom was known as a hard-nosed coach but he’d never been a DC before so you didn’t really know how that would work out. One thing was for sure is that he was determined to make Memphis a defensive team.
LB Coach- Galen Scott. Coach Scott was the only coach retained from the Porter staff. Scott was a great LB coach and a good recruiter.
CB Coach- Chris Vaughn. Coach Vaughn came to Memphis after 12 years in the SEC. He was known as a great recruiter and a rising star.
DL Coach- Tim Billings. Billings wasn’t known as much of a recruiter but brought a lot of years of coaching experience to the table.
At the time fans didn’t know what to expect out of this staff. Coach Dickey was a known commodity having been a Head Coach before and being the Tigers OC back in ’86-’89. Even though this staff lacked known star power to the fans, it did have a group of relentless recruiters with years of SEC experience.
Let’s take a look at Norvell’s first staff.
Offensive Coordinator/TE’s- Chip Long. Coach Long is a well-known recruiter. He was named one of the Top 25 recruiters in the nation by Rivals this past season and one of the top PAC 12 recruiters in previous years.
RB Coach- Darrell Dickey. Coach Dickey is well respected by everyone in the coaching community and brings some stability in the transition from the Fuente to Norvell staff.
OL Coach- Ryan Silverfield. Coach Silverfield brings NFL experience to the staff. Kids want to be able to get to the NFL and Silverfield coached there. Huge hire for Norvell.
WR Coach- David Johnson. Coach Johnson is a well-known recruiter in Louisiana. He comes to Memphis from Tulane.
Defensive Coordinator- Chris Ball. Coach Ball is a good defensive mind. He’s been a DC at ASU and Washington State. ASU’s secondary ranks first in the Pac-12 and is tied for second in the nation with an average of 1.4 interceptions per game over the past three seasons.
DL Coach- Paul Randolph. Coach Randolph is another great defensive mind and recruiter. He was named as one of the Top 25 recruiters during his time at Alabama.
ST/OLB- Joe Lorig- Coach Lorig comes to Memphis with 20 years coaching experience. He’s spent the majority of his coaching career as a ST or DC. He brings in a lot of experience and knowledge to the staff.
ILB Coach- Dan Lanning. Coach Lanning comes to Memphis from Alabama. Don’t be worried that he was just a GA there. He’s known as an up-and-coming assistant. He may not have the years of experience as other coach but working under Coach Saban and learning from him clearly counts for something.
CB Coach- Marcus Woodson. Coach Woodson comes to Memphis from Fresno State. He’s a great coach and a good recruiter. He played at Ole Miss and knows the area well.
Both Fuente and Norvell’s first staff brought in a good mix of youth and experience. Just looking at the staff’s face value we’d give the slight edge to Norvell’s staff over Fuente’s. Time will tell if we’re right.
Comparing Norvell’s staff to last year’s staff is a little more difficult but one area that we feel that is an upgrade over last year is defensively.
We feel that Ball is an upgrade over Scott at DC and Woodson is an upgrade over Reffett. DL coach is a push between Hunley and Randolph. Only defensive advantage Fuente staff held at ST. We feel Shibest beats out Lorig in face value.
We feel offensively it’s pretty much even.
The last area to compare is recruiting. Going off face value they are pretty much even between the 2 staffs. Norvell’s staff has more Rivals top 25 recruiters than Fuente had first starting out so you could give a slight edge to Norvell.
Seeing how the new staff has recruited so far you’d give more than a slight edge to Norvell.
Fuente’s staff got Memphis to where it is today. Norvell’s staff is primed and ready to take the program to new heights. If this were a game of Tennis between the staff’s, the score would say “Advantage Norvell”.
We’ll first take a look at Fuente’s first staff.
Offensive Coordinator/Running backs- Darrell Dickey. Coach Dickey has been around the block a time or two and brought some HC experience to assist Fuente.
QB Coach- Brad Cornelson. Coach Cornelson was a relatively unknown at the time. He came to Memphis from Northeastern State where he was the OC for 3 years.
WR Coach- Holman Wiggins. Coach Wiggins was a known recruiter in the SEC. He came to Memphis after spending 11 years in the SEC.
TE/ST Coach- James Shibest. Coach Shibest was another known recruiter in the SEC and a special teams guru.
OL Coach- Vance Vice. Coach Vice had been an OL coach for 13 years. He was an important hire due to the fact Memphis’ OL at the time wasn’t very good.
Defensive Coordinator- Barry Odom. Coach Odom was known as a hard-nosed coach but he’d never been a DC before so you didn’t really know how that would work out. One thing was for sure is that he was determined to make Memphis a defensive team.
LB Coach- Galen Scott. Coach Scott was the only coach retained from the Porter staff. Scott was a great LB coach and a good recruiter.
CB Coach- Chris Vaughn. Coach Vaughn came to Memphis after 12 years in the SEC. He was known as a great recruiter and a rising star.
DL Coach- Tim Billings. Billings wasn’t known as much of a recruiter but brought a lot of years of coaching experience to the table.
At the time fans didn’t know what to expect out of this staff. Coach Dickey was a known commodity having been a Head Coach before and being the Tigers OC back in ’86-’89. Even though this staff lacked known star power to the fans, it did have a group of relentless recruiters with years of SEC experience.
Let’s take a look at Norvell’s first staff.
Offensive Coordinator/TE’s- Chip Long. Coach Long is a well-known recruiter. He was named one of the Top 25 recruiters in the nation by Rivals this past season and one of the top PAC 12 recruiters in previous years.
RB Coach- Darrell Dickey. Coach Dickey is well respected by everyone in the coaching community and brings some stability in the transition from the Fuente to Norvell staff.
OL Coach- Ryan Silverfield. Coach Silverfield brings NFL experience to the staff. Kids want to be able to get to the NFL and Silverfield coached there. Huge hire for Norvell.
WR Coach- David Johnson. Coach Johnson is a well-known recruiter in Louisiana. He comes to Memphis from Tulane.
Defensive Coordinator- Chris Ball. Coach Ball is a good defensive mind. He’s been a DC at ASU and Washington State. ASU’s secondary ranks first in the Pac-12 and is tied for second in the nation with an average of 1.4 interceptions per game over the past three seasons.
DL Coach- Paul Randolph. Coach Randolph is another great defensive mind and recruiter. He was named as one of the Top 25 recruiters during his time at Alabama.
ST/OLB- Joe Lorig- Coach Lorig comes to Memphis with 20 years coaching experience. He’s spent the majority of his coaching career as a ST or DC. He brings in a lot of experience and knowledge to the staff.
ILB Coach- Dan Lanning. Coach Lanning comes to Memphis from Alabama. Don’t be worried that he was just a GA there. He’s known as an up-and-coming assistant. He may not have the years of experience as other coach but working under Coach Saban and learning from him clearly counts for something.
CB Coach- Marcus Woodson. Coach Woodson comes to Memphis from Fresno State. He’s a great coach and a good recruiter. He played at Ole Miss and knows the area well.
Both Fuente and Norvell’s first staff brought in a good mix of youth and experience. Just looking at the staff’s face value we’d give the slight edge to Norvell’s staff over Fuente’s. Time will tell if we’re right.
Comparing Norvell’s staff to last year’s staff is a little more difficult but one area that we feel that is an upgrade over last year is defensively.
We feel that Ball is an upgrade over Scott at DC and Woodson is an upgrade over Reffett. DL coach is a push between Hunley and Randolph. Only defensive advantage Fuente staff held at ST. We feel Shibest beats out Lorig in face value.
We feel offensively it’s pretty much even.
The last area to compare is recruiting. Going off face value they are pretty much even between the 2 staffs. Norvell’s staff has more Rivals top 25 recruiters than Fuente had first starting out so you could give a slight edge to Norvell.
Seeing how the new staff has recruited so far you’d give more than a slight edge to Norvell.
Fuente’s staff got Memphis to where it is today. Norvell’s staff is primed and ready to take the program to new heights. If this were a game of Tennis between the staff’s, the score would say “Advantage Norvell”.
