Coaching Family

ead coach Rip Scherer has high praise for his staff. "It is a coaching staff that is very cohesive, very professional, very demanding of our players and yet at the same time has a compassion and sensitivity toward the players which I think is critical," Scherer says. "It is a coaching staff of no egos and no pride of authorship. To me, that makes the environment much more conducive to being successful."

Defensive coordinator Jim Pletcher gives credit to the players for developing a succesful chemistry. "It's funny, the guys really get along well. There's a lot of barbing and joking with each other," Pletcher said. "We really don't have what you would think of as a big-name player on defense; everyone is playing within themselves. The guys are not concerned about who's getting the accolades, but who's getting it done."

Pletcher was complimentary of his young linemen. "If you look at the progress of Calvin Lewis, Jarvis Slaton, and Marcus Bell in the interior of that line, you've got to be pleased," he said. "We're going to be looking at those same faces for a long time."

A big surprise on the defense has been Don Haselwood, the strong safety who became a starter in preseason drills when returning starter Anthony Reddick went down with a knee injury. "Donny has probably been our most consistent defensive player," Pletcher said. "He's a guy who has finally gotten a chance to play consistently."

Haselwood, who in three previous seasons earned a reputation as a special-teams headhunter, is second on the team in tackles with 46.

The top tackler, Chris Reeves, was selected defensive captain last week. "He's a senior by name, but he's a freshman by position," Pletcher says of the redshirt senior from Thomaston, Georgia. "He's really turned into our thumper on defense. He's making some big hits. When he hits people, you're hearing helmets cracking and pads ripping. He's come a long way from his father passing away during the summer. It took him about two games to get refocused."

On the offensive side, Memphis has co-offensive coordinators Rusty Burns and Dave Magazu. "It's great," laughs Burns. "He can blame me and I can blame him. We're very close actually. Sometimes when we have an off week, our families go out to dinner together."

Magazu is not so chipper. "I really have a hard time working with Rusty," he deadpans. "It's a very difficult situation."

Actually, the two coordinators are lifetime friends and were teammates at Springfield College. Burns watches the game from the fourth floor of the press box while Magazu works the sidelines, talking to the players and passing along information from upstairs. Play calls are put into a package during the week's preparations, then Burns calls the plays with input from Magazu and Scherer.

The cooperative efforts of Magazu and Burns seem to sum up the spirit of this coaching staff, of this team. They may only be 2-4, but to a man they can point to the light at the end of the tunnel. And not a one of them thinks it's an oncoming train.

TIGER NOTES: Memphis will appear on the tube for the second time this season when they tangle with East Carolina Saturday. The game will air on Fox Sports South at 2:30 p.m. CDT. East Carolina has outscored Memphis 81-33 in the last three meetings between the two schools. The two schools have played every year since their first meeting in 1990. The Pirates hold a 5-2 edge in the series. Starting left tackle Daniel Gomez, who has started every game since the first outing of his redshirt freshman season, has played for four different position coaches and three different offensive coordinators. That constant turnover might help explain why Memphis has been near the bottom of Division-I offensive statistics until this year. Tiger coaches continue to praise the spark and hustle of sophomore lineman Lou Esposito, who moved into the starting lineup three games ago. Scherer pointed out after the UC game that Esposito almost recovered a key fourth-quarter fumble that took place more than 30 yards from the line of scrimmage. The slow start of the Tigers running game has contributed to an ongoing problem with third-down conversions this year. Thus far Memphis is 30 out of 94 on third down -- a 31 percent success rate. -- Dennis Freeland