The Zeitgeist List · coaching

Tommy West

Followed Rip Scherer. Tommy West held Memphis at Regional Program I for 9 seasons.

Peak, then fade
80–89
1993–2009 · 2 stints
ClemsonMemphis
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Career arc

His real stature score, season by season, across every program he’s coached — so a stretch that stays in one tier the whole way can still climb or sink on the line, not just flatten out. Node color marks the tier reached. Which program a stretch belongs to is carried by the shaded lane behind it.

Stature score reached, by season of his head-coaching careerCLEMSONMEMPHISPower Programperennial contenderNational Programrespectable, streakyRegional Programthe building-block levelClemson, 1993: 1-0, Power Program II1993Clemson, 1994: 5-6, Power Program IIIClemson, 1995: 8-4, Power Program IIIClemson, 1996: 7-5, Power Program IIIClemson, 1997: 7-5, Power Program IIIClemson, 1998: 3-8, National Program I1998-10.9Memphis, 2001: 5-6, Regional Program I2001Memphis, 2002: 3-9, Regional Program IMemphis, 2003: 9-4, Regional Program IMemphis, 2004: 8-4, Regional Program IMemphis, 2005: 7-5, Regional Program IMemphis, 2006: 2-10, Regional Program IMemphis, 2007: 7-6, Regional Program IIMemphis, 2008: 6-7, Regional Program IIIMemphis, 2009: 2-10, Regional Program III2009+1.6One point per coached season, in career order; dashed segments are program changes — spacing is not proportional to calendar time

Reached Power Program in his 1st career season — faster than 57% of the 395 FBS coaches who have ever reached Power Program (rank #1 of 395 by seasons-to-arrival).

Clemson, 6 seasons
−10.9
Power Program II → National Program I.
Memphis, 9 seasons
+1.6
Regional Program I → Regional Program III.

The big-game ledger

How he does in the games that matter most — rivalry record, performance broken out by real opponent tier, one-score games, and his toughest historical matchup.

5–8 against his rivals. Winless in 6 tries against Watson Brown.

Rivalry record
5–8
38.5% · 2 rivals
One-score games
23–39
37.1% · margin ≤8
vs. Blue Blood or better
0–6
0.0%
Rivalry ledger
Ole Miss2–625%
South Carolina3–260%
The toughest matchupNemesis
vs. Watson Brown0–6
6 meetings, 2001–2006
’01 L’02 L’03 L’04 L’05 L’06 L
Performance by opponent class
Blue Blood
0–6 0.0%
Power Program
1–16 5.9%
National Program
20–29 40.8%
Regional Program
44–38 53.7%

Coaching career

2001–2009
Memphiscaretaker
Regional Program I → Regional Program I
Tommy West held Memphis at Regional Program I for 9 seasons.

9th-best Memphis tenure of 15 by the numbers.

Followed Rip Scherer (1995–2000) · succeeded by Larry Porter (2010–2011).

Where the roster comes from, by position
Grows Tackle from high school
100%
#198 of 223 stints

10 NFL Draft picks: Idrees Bashir (2001), Michael Stone (2001), Marcus Bell (2001), Wade Smith (2003), Travis Anglin (2003), Eric Taylor (2004), DeAngelo Williams (2006), Stephen Gostkowski (2006) + 2 more

49–61
1993–1998
Clemsoninheritor
Power Program I → Power Program II
Tommy West inherited a Power Program I Clemson and won with it.

4th-best Clemson tenure of 10 by the numbers.

Succeeded by Tommy Bowden (1999–2008).

21 NFL Draft picks: Wayne Simmons (1993), James Trapp (1993), Rudy Harris (1993), Ashley Sheppard (1993), Robert O'Neal (1993), Brentson Buckner (1994), Andre Hewitt (1994), Wardell Rouse (1995) + 13 more

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