In Mike Norvell, Memphis gets a coach who coordinated one of the most explosive offenses in the Pac-12 over the last four years with Arizona State.
He had already long been regarded as one of the Pac-12’s best head coaching candidates.
It was only a matter of time before the Sun Devils play-caller was given the opportunity to take a head coaching position in the FBS.
Arizona State's offense struggled this season, but losing Norvell is big loss to the program. ASU's best recruiter.
— Doug Haller (@DougHaller) December 4, 2015
That’s right.
USA Today’s Dan Wolken put in his two cents, banging them off his keyboard in double time regarding the intriguing AAC coaching shuffle.
It was going to take a really good situation for Norvell to leave Graham. They are almost like father-son.
— Dan Wolken (@DanWolken) December 4, 2015
“If you talk to him he knows a lot about this program,” university President M. Rudd said, per 247Sports. “He knows about our players. He understands this football program at the University of Memphis with remarkable depth.”
No kidding. That must have been some kind of interview the university’s President and the Athletics Director Tom Bowen had with Norvell. It didn’t take very long for the sides to suite each other.
On paper, acquiring Norvell makes sense. He is a Central Arkansas grad. He spent four years at regional AAC contender Tulsa before spending the next nine seasons working under Arizona State coach Todd Graham. That, and he takes over what you would think would be a better situation at Memphis than did Fuente.
It is Norvell’s fault that over the last four years, the Sun Devils stacked up pretty well in a range of offensive metrics.
The team was No. 1 in drives per game (14.2), No. 2 in points per drive (2.45), No. 2 in drive scoring percentage (41.8 percent), No. 3 in lowest turnover percentage per drive (9.2 percent), No. 3 in lowest three-and-out percentage per drive (25.6 percent), No. 3 in plays per drive (78.3) and No. 5 in touchdowns per drive (30.3 percent).
He did pretty well for himself in the Pac-12. That much we know. Fair enough. So what might Memphis expect from Norvell heading into Year 1?
That remains to be seen. Coach Justine Fuente is gone. As is commanding quarterback wonder Paxton Lynch. Offensive coordinator Brad Cornelson isn’t in the area anymore, either. Fuente is coaching a school in the ACC now. Lynch has signed a nice old deal with the Denver Broncos. And Cornelson will be working for Fuente all over again, dialing up plays for Virginia Tech football this season. The kind of plays that conference defensive coordinators next-door can only hope they can stop.
The Memphis defense, it needs work. Actually, it needs a whole lot of work. There might be more questions marks encompassing this program moving forward then you would usually find on a standard SAT examination. So, will the football program take a step (or two) back in the next few years?
I’m sure the Tigers will manage, but I don’t think I’m going to pop a bottle of champagne over this football team. At best, this intermediate level AAC program is in put up or shut up mode right now.
Upon further review, I’m not sure Norvell is going to agree with me. This coach is prepared to take the Memphis football program to a whole other level.
“When I look at this opportunity, I see a program that has no limits,” Norvell said, via 247Sports. “We have no limits. We can push this team, this university, this community to limits people in this area before could only dream about.”
You can try, coach. You can certainly try.
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