Oct. 22, 2001

Submit your question!

Q: Darron White is a big time play maker. He runs a lot of crossing, and out routes now. Do you plan on using him on deep routes when he gains experience?
Michael Anderson
Covington TN

Coach West
Darron White has been a good player for us. Really a little bit ahead of where I thought he'd be right now. He is in a position that runs a lot of crossing routes and a lot of dig routes. We try to get him deep at times. What we try to do is know the matchups going into the game that we think will match up well, get the deep ball. If Darron becomes one of those guys, then we will certainly try to get him the ball. We are trying to work out ways for him to get the ball as a matter of fact.

Q: What are the key traits that you look for when hiring your assistant coaching staff?
Stephen Fowler
Memphis TN

Coach West
Well, I have a criteria that I use for hiring assistant coaches. Number one is that they are good people. I'm going to have to spend 12-14 hours a day with them, it's going to be around people I trust and know are good people. Number two is to be able to communicate. When you are an assistant coach you spend a lot of time with alumni, with media, and with the players. You have to be able to communicate with me, and with the players you coach. So, I think communication is extremely important.

Q: How is Derron Johnson doing at WR? Will he stay at this position and will he redshirt this year?
Brandon Cook
Germantown TN

Coach West
No Derron has already played this year, so he will stay at wide receiver throughout this season, and then will do an evaluation after the season everywhere, and see where Deron can help us the most. He is still better at wide receiver, it hasn't been as easy of an adjustment as I would have liked for it to have been, but I think he is making some progress.

Q: I am a faithful fan, Highland Hundred member, and make an annual contribution to Tiger Clubs. My question is what else can fans like myself do to help you continue to build a successful program at Memphis?
John Lewallen
Memphis TN

Coach West
This is a great question and I really appreciate you wanting to do everything you can do to help our program. I think the biggest thing is support this program. With the understanding that this is not going to be an easy task. We've been through a lot of years, and I know probably that every coach has that has been here has stood up and said how great he was and what he was going to do. The fact is that it is not going to be easy, and nobody expected it to be. Just support us. There is going to be adversity, it is easy during the good times when we win games. But when we lose hang in there with us and support us, its going to take all of us to support us at our games, bring somebody with you. Be as loud as you can be. We're going to get there. We're going to get this thing done, and we need all the support we can get.