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AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE MEDIA DAYJuly 29, 2014Justin FuenteNEWPORT, RHODE ISLAND THE MODERATOR: Next we have Coach Justin Fuente from Memphis. He came to Memphis from TCU where he was part of some extraordinary teams there. He has brought that to the Memphis Tigers. Returning 18 starters this season, which is the second in the conference, creating a sense of hope and progress for the Tigers. COACH FUENTE: Before I begin, I would like to take this opportunity to thank our commissioner for his leadership, toughness and willingness to fight for our league. We certainly appreciate it. I also want to thank our administration, our athletic director, our president to help us build this football program. We're entering our third year at the University of Memphis, our second in this league. I'm thrilled with how our kids have embraced the challenge of building a football program while simultaneously taking a step up in competition. We have an incredibly tough road ahead of us with a challenging non‑conference and conference schedule. But I believe it's the first time we've had the seniors and the leadership with the guts and passion to help us guide us through that. We return many players from our defensive unit that at times played fantastic defense. Hopefully we can continue to build upon that. Then we have many guys coming back offensively from a group I believe that's hungry to improve on their standing, really help this team advance to the next level. That being said, I will be happy to answer any questions any of you all may have. Q. The benefits and challenges of having new teams come in this year, the three teams, then Navy next year. From your perspective as you're building your program, how do you look at those benefits and challenges? COACH FUENTE: I think the biggest thing is helping other people become familiar with the league. I think this league has done a fantastic job of trying to get that word out. When you have some shifting going on, sometimes people are unsure exactly who you are, who's in your league, that sort of stuff. Educating both recruits and your fan base, your alumni, on exactly where you're at, who's involved with it, I think is the biggest thing. Obviously we've added some fantastic programs, some programs that have incredible success, some programs that will have success, which only helps this league continue to grow and develop in the future. Q. You mentioned this is your third season here. You're building the program. What are you looking at in terms of what would be success for you this season in your third year? COACH FUENTE: That's easy. For me, I've put some pretty simple goals in front of our kids. I firmly believe this with all my heart, that if we can continue to put the team as a high priority for each individual person, improve on our discipline level in order to prepare and perform in a manner that gives us a chance to win, we'll have success. So we tried to take the focus inward, on our own performance, preparation, knowing that will result in success on the field. I've tried to talk to our guys, not in terms of the season or the games or the win or the loss or the points scored or points allowed, but it's all in our preparation ultimately leading up to our performance, our ability to have the discipline to continue that through a long period of time. That's why there's so many upsets, ups and downs during seasons. It's very difficult to maintain that throughout the season. Q. You see oftentimes universities such as Memphis, we've seen it with Duke recently, in the minds of the athletic public are viewed at basketball schools. Memphis has a strong football tradition, but I would think that's something you've had to deal with in your position. How have you dealt with that? COACH FUENTE: First of all, we shouldn't apologize for being really good in basketball, and we don't. I'm not. I'm all for it. Josh and I, our head basketball coach, have a wonderful relationship. Josh understands the importance of the football program. More importantly, or as important, our administration understands the importance of that. We've got to continue to beat the drum for the progress of our athletic department and the progress of our university and our community, it depends on our ability to build a football program. I think that word's getting out. I think our community understands how important this truly is. One of the reasons that, quite frankly, I took this challenge three years ago was because I felt like they understood it. They absolutely do. We do have that connotation, and we embrace that. That's wonderful. There's no reason you can't do both, so we're going to give it a shot. Q. You came close last year, games like UCF and Louisville. Do you feel this year you have the talent and experience to surprise some folks? COACH FUENTE: The neat thing about this game, and this is fairly obvious, is those things don't carry over on the scoreboard. You score 60 one week, you might only score 3 the next. To be in those games I think highlighted several things to us. It highlighted that we are talented enough to play with some very, very good football teams, some very good people. We're talented enough to be in those games at the very end. In order for us to take the next step and ultimately end up on the other side of the ledger in those very competitive games versus very good football teams, we have to make some changes. We have to improve our discipline level in order to hold the rope, so to speak, for the entire game. I think it instilled confidence that we could do it, while they were heartbreaking and gut‑wrenching losses, when you look back on it with some perspective, it highlights the fact that you are there. But with a little bit more discipline, a little bit better execution, you have an opportunity to do some special things. Q. You mentioned there's a lot of starters coming back. What has gone on over the summer to prepare them for this upcoming season? COACH FUENTE: We've had a fantastic summer. We have an incredible strength and conditioning coach that's done as much or more for us, not only are we stronger and in better shape, but our strength and condition coach, Rohrk Cutchlow, has done more for us from a team aspect as any coach we have on the staff. Our kids have great participation. They've established a work ethic that they understand is expected every day. By and large they have met that on a consistent basis, while at the same time they have done things on their own to kind of grow closer together, which I think was important. So we've had as good a spring and as good an off‑season and good a summer as we've had since we've been there. So that's obviously very encouraging. THE MODERATOR: Coach, thank you very much. COACH FUENTE: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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