There a very, very few people who can make the leap to HC of a D1 team without being first an OC or DC first at the D1 level. Tim Brewster made the same type of leap (NFL 'tight ends coach'?!?!? What is that?) to the head coach of the University of Minnesota. He was truly awful but was lucky enough to inherit Eric Decker (NFL WR for 8 seasons and plays for the Titans this year) and Adam Weber (played a bit for the Broncos).

His first season 1-11. Second season 7-6 with four of those wins coming against the MAC or Sunbelt teams (and keep in mind Eric Decker and Adam Weber were juniors at that time), third season 7-6 and in his fourth season was 1-6 by the time he was let go in the middle of the season.

That said, Porter was in a league of his own in terms of being inept. He thought he could take the Les Miles approach to the local media when our program was getting less than 10k in turnstile count/game! Earth to Larry: when your a G5 team, you can use all the publicity you can. Getting smoked by Arkansas State 47-3 was probably the lowest point in my memory as a Tiger FB fan since the mid-1990s. Rip's team were usually fairly competitive and he almost always beast AState. Porter was simply in over his head and for further proof, Porter is 45 years old and is.....

the tight ends coach at Auburn. I think that'll be Larry's ceiling for a fairly long period. Perhaps he'll surprise us all, but if you are not at least a DC/HC by the time you're 45, you're probably not HC material.

(10-20-2017 11:14 AM)MemphisFan95 Wrote:  Porter was also done no favors by inheriting Tommy West's last year's of recruiting efforts

Whether the haters want to admit it or not, this one fact alone shrank the talent pool of coaches who would even be willing to take over that mess. I will never forget the day Larry told me he walked in and asked Justin Crouse to show him the recruiting board. There was none. And then Crouse wanted to offer three Calif. JUCO guys that the previous staff had never even been to see. Fact.

But Larry’s done well since, Memphis has done well since, and MTSU still has Stockstill along with West and Mallory. They are 3-4 and drawing about 5,000 fans per game (15,000 reported). Sound familiar? It will be out there for all to see tonight vs. Marshall on ESPN2. Tommy West, the gift that keeps on giving at Memphis, UAB, USM and now MTSU.

(10-20-2017 11:22 AM)karter25 Wrote:  

(10-20-2017 11:14 AM)MemphisFan95 Wrote:  Porter was also done no favors by inheriting Tommy West's last year's of recruiting efforts

MANY of the problems during the Porter years had NOTHING to do with the talent. It was a leadership issue and he showed he just wasn't the man for the job.

Absolutely but the talent pool was awful

(10-20-2017 11:28 AM)TG4 Wrote:  

(10-20-2017 11:14 AM)MemphisFan95 Wrote:  Porter was also done no favors by inheriting Tommy West's last year's of recruiting efforts

Whether the haters want to admit it or not, this one fact alone shrank the talent pool of coaches who would even be willing to take over that mess. I will never forget the day Larry told me he walked in and asked Justin Crouse to show him the recruiting board. There was none. And then Crouse wanted to offer three Calif. JUCO guys that the previous staff had never even been to see. Fact.

But Larry’s done well since, Memphis has done well since, and MTSU still has Stockstill along with West and Mallory. They are 3-4 and drawing about 5,000 fans per game (15,000 reported). Sound familiar? It will be out there for all to see tonight vs. Marshall on ESPN2. Tommy West, the gift that keeps on giving at Memphis, UAB, USM and now MTSU.

Well, that's sad. I really liked Tommy.

(10-20-2017 11:28 AM)TG4 Wrote:  

(10-20-2017 11:14 AM)MemphisFan95 Wrote:  Porter was also done no favors by inheriting Tommy West's last year's of recruiting efforts

Whether the haters want to admit it or not, this one fact alone shrank the talent pool of coaches who would even be willing to take over that mess. I will never forget the day Larry told me he walked in and asked Justin Crouse to show him the recruiting board. There was none. And then Crouse wanted to offer three Calif. JUCO guys that the previous staff had never even been to see. Fact.

But Larry’s done well since, Memphis has done well since, and MTSU still has Stockstill along with West and Mallory. They are 3-4 and drawing about 5,000 fans per game (15,000 reported). Sound familiar? It will be out there for all to see tonight vs. Marshall on ESPN2. Tommy West, the gift that keeps on giving at Memphis, UAB, USM and now MTSU.

Great post

(10-20-2017 11:28 AM)TG4 Wrote:  

(10-20-2017 11:14 AM)MemphisFan95 Wrote:  Porter was also done no favors by inheriting Tommy West's last year's of recruiting efforts

MTSU still has Stockstill along with West and Mallory. They are 3-4 and drawing about 5,000 fans per game (15,000 reported). Sound familiar? It will be out there for all to see tonight vs. Marshall on ESPN2. Tommy West, the gift that keeps on giving at Memphis, UAB, USM and now MTSU.

Apparently there weren't any fighting sticks at Clemson, UAB, USM, and MTSU either. Who knew?

He was great. Ahead of his time is all...

There is no comparison between the cougars coach and Larry Porter. Larry Porter is possibly the worst coach in the history of college football. He Was not coherent in one facet of the game. We are just lucky that he could recruit and left Fuente with some talent.

(10-20-2017 11:56 AM)CUSA_NEWS Wrote:  He was great. Ahead of his time is all...

We know we know.

(10-20-2017 11:28 AM)TG4 Wrote:  

(10-20-2017 11:14 AM)MemphisFan95 Wrote:  Porter was also done no favors by inheriting Tommy West's last year's of recruiting efforts

Whether the haters want to admit it or not, this one fact alone shrank the talent pool of coaches who would even be willing to take over that mess. I will never forget the day Larry told me he walked in and asked Justin Crouse to show him the recruiting board. There was none. And then Crouse wanted to offer three Calif. JUCO guys that the previous staff had never even been to see. Fact.

But Larry’s done well since, Memphis has done well since, and MTSU still has Stockstill along with West and Mallory. They are 3-4 and drawing about 5,000 fans per game (15,000 reported). Sound familiar? It will be out there for all to see tonight vs. Marshall on ESPN2. Tommy West, the gift that keeps on giving at Memphis, UAB, USM and now MTSU.

Are you really blaming the systemic indifference of MTSU sports on West? He's just a position coach.

Fact is, Stockstill is a solid HC who puts together pretty good teams for that place but no one ever cares.

(10-20-2017 09:26 AM)Red Dragon Coog Wrote:  Because I think we have Porter 2.0 on our sidelines. I also think the symptoms maybbe similar.

The first two plays on offense when the team lined up with 5 guys in the backfield, got called for the penalty, and then did the same thing on the next play because the staff was oblivious as to why that was a problem.

Your dude is winning games. It's not even comparable.

early on...we looked like a JV team playing varsity squads out there under Porter...even Fuente’s 4-8/3-9 squads looked like a D-1 team, not Porters, though.

First game. He ran the team out of the tunnel with 35 seconds left on the intro video.

(10-20-2017 12:07 PM)AlonsoWDC Wrote:  

(10-20-2017 11:28 AM)TG4 Wrote:  

(10-20-2017 11:14 AM)MemphisFan95 Wrote:  Porter was also done no favors by inheriting Tommy West's last year's of recruiting efforts

Whether the haters want to admit it or not, this one fact alone shrank the talent pool of coaches who would even be willing to take over that mess. I will never forget the day Larry told me he walked in and asked Justin Crouse to show him the recruiting board. There was none. And then Crouse wanted to offer three Calif. JUCO guys that the previous staff had never even been to see. Fact.

But Larry’s done well since, Memphis has done well since, and MTSU still has Stockstill along with West and Mallory. They are 3-4 and drawing about 5,000 fans per game (15,000 reported). Sound familiar? It will be out there for all to see tonight vs. Marshall on ESPN2. Tommy West, the gift that keeps on giving at Memphis, UAB, USM and now MTSU.

Are you really blaming the systemic indifference of MTSU sports on West? He's just a position coach.

Fact is, Stockstill is a solid HC who puts together pretty good teams for that place but no one ever cares.

He has turned into Tommy West 2.0. After 11 seasons, no outright conference championship and one bowl win in ‘09. He’s been slaughtered in the postseason by 3 MAC schools, Hawaii and Navy. But thanks for trying.

So you're against Stockstill? Fine.

But West has no effect on that program as a DL coach and you were reaching.

Easy, very first play from scrimmage in his very first game when we couldn't even line up properly and got the illegal formation.

(10-20-2017 10:01 AM)HornLakeTiger Wrote:  Man, the ignore feature is actually incredible.

ANYWAY....back to the topic. Yeah, I see reasons for concern with Applewhite.

Put a sock in it already. Tired of your mouth.

(10-20-2017 12:38 PM)TG4 Wrote:  

(10-20-2017 12:07 PM)AlonsoWDC Wrote:  

(10-20-2017 11:28 AM)TG4 Wrote:  

(10-20-2017 11:14 AM)MemphisFan95 Wrote:  Porter was also done no favors by inheriting Tommy West's last year's of recruiting efforts

Whether the haters want to admit it or not, this one fact alone shrank the talent pool of coaches who would even be willing to take over that mess. I will never forget the day Larry told me he walked in and asked Justin Crouse to show him the recruiting board. There was none. And then Crouse wanted to offer three Calif. JUCO guys that the previous staff had never even been to see. Fact.

But Larry’s done well since, Memphis has done well since, and MTSU still has Stockstill along with West and Mallory. They are 3-4 and drawing about 5,000 fans per game (15,000 reported). Sound familiar? It will be out there for all to see tonight vs. Marshall on ESPN2. Tommy West, the gift that keeps on giving at Memphis, UAB, USM and now MTSU.

Are you really blaming the systemic indifference of MTSU sports on West? He's just a position coach.

Fact is, Stockstill is a solid HC who puts together pretty good teams for that place but no one ever cares.

He has turned into Tommy West 2.0. After 11 seasons, no outright conference championship and one bowl win in ‘09. He’s been slaughtered in the postseason by 3 MAC schools, Hawaii and Navy. But thanks for trying.

Credit due to Porter actually recruiting pretty well to a school that was in the toilet.

He actually greatly improved the talent pool from what West left...But I don't think he would have done much better with more talent...He just wasn't head coach material.

(10-20-2017 12:47 PM)TigerSeth Wrote:  

(10-20-2017 10:01 AM)HornLakeTiger Wrote:  Man, the ignore feature is actually incredible.

ANYWAY....back to the topic. Yeah, I see reasons for concern with Applewhite.

Put a sock in it already. Tired of your mouth.

Do me a favor, bruh. There's an awesome feature when you click on my name. It's called "Ignore".

Click it. I just did the same with you.

There is literally nothing else you can do. I'm not going anywhere.

(10-20-2017 12:38 PM)TG4 Wrote:  

(10-20-2017 12:07 PM)AlonsoWDC Wrote:  

(10-20-2017 11:28 AM)TG4 Wrote:  

(10-20-2017 11:14 AM)MemphisFan95 Wrote:  Porter was also done no favors by inheriting Tommy West's last year's of recruiting efforts

Whether the haters want to admit it or not, this one fact alone shrank the talent pool of coaches who would even be willing to take over that mess. I will never forget the day Larry told me he walked in and asked Justin Crouse to show him the recruiting board. There was none. And then Crouse wanted to offer three Calif. JUCO guys that the previous staff had never even been to see. Fact.

But Larry’s done well since, Memphis has done well since, and MTSU still has Stockstill along with West and Mallory. They are 3-4 and drawing about 5,000 fans per game (15,000 reported). Sound familiar? It will be out there for all to see tonight vs. Marshall on ESPN2. Tommy West, the gift that keeps on giving at Memphis, UAB, USM and now MTSU.

Are you really blaming the systemic indifference of MTSU sports on West? He's just a position coach.

Fact is, Stockstill is a solid HC who puts together pretty good teams for that place but no one ever cares.

He has turned into Tommy West 2.0. After 11 seasons, no outright conference championship and one bowl win in ‘09. He’s been slaughtered in the postseason by 3 MAC schools, Hawaii and Navy. But thanks for trying.

Complacency. Happens when a coach stays at a job too long that isn't considered a "destination job". You either win enough for a bigger school to make an offer, or you get fired for not winning enough. And then, somewhere in between.......win just enough for complacency to set in, and usually, the trend starts leaning towards the negative after a decade or so. I see that as where Stockstill is.