TCU coordinator latest to move up ladder
A few years back, former defensive coordinator David Bailiff, now the head coach at Rice, left coach Gary Patterson's TCU Horned Frog staff for a head coaching job.
And on Wednesday night, TCU co-offensive coordinator Justin Fuente became the latest to springboard from Frogs' success. Fuente, 35, has accepted the challenging job as head coach of the Memphis Tigers.
Success breeds opportunity and Patterson is pleased to see it.
"He's a good, young coach on a really good offensive staff," Patterson said late Wednesday night. "He will work very hard trying to get them on the road to where they want to be."
Memphis finished 2-10 and 1-7 in the East Division of C-USA.
At TCU, Fuente, hired by Patterson in 2007 as a running backs coach, became co-offensive coordinator in 2009 and moved over to coach quarterbacks. He spent gamedays in the booth while his partner, Jarrett Anderson, handled handled running backs and coached on the sideline.
The Frogs will likely have to adjust for the Poinsettia Bowl on Dec. 21 in San Diego. Patterson said he expects Fuente will want to get to Memphis quickly and get to work.
Fuente and Anderson produced the three best offensive seasons in terms of total yards and points in school history and clearly prepared Cincinnati Bengals rookie quarterback Andy Dalton well for the NFL. This season, sophomore and first-year starting quarterback Casey Pachall, challenged four of Dalton's single-season school records (completions, completion percentage, touchdowns and yards) and broke one (67.8 completion percentage).
Patterson said he foresees continuing his tradition of co-offensive coordinators for the 2012 season when TCU enters the Big 12.
Anderson, who is finishing his 14th season with the Frogs, could possibly slide over and coach quarterbacks. Wide receivers coach Rusty Burns, who came to TCU in 2009 after being an offensive coordinator at SMU, Cincinnati, Wyoming, Memphis and Connecticut, could certainly be a candidate to sit shotgun.
"We've got a great offensive staff," Patterson said, "and we'll pick up and move forward."
Jeff Caplan
ESPNDallas.comTEAM RESOURCES
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