Building from the ground up

Building a championship-caliber team takes time and hard work. But championships start on the recruiting trail.

The University of Memphis Tigers' new football head coach Justin Fuente began that process yesterday, signing 27 student-athletes to play for the Tigers in the 2012 season.

Fuente addressed two areas of concern in this class—the secondary and what he calls the "big guys," which includes the offensive line and tight end positions.

"Defensively, we were ultra-thin in the defensive backfield so we thought we had to make a concerted effort to find safeties and corners," Fuente said. "Not that we just had everything we wanted up front, but we just felt like we were ultra-thin there and we had to address that immediately."

In 2011, the Tigers gave up an NCAA-worst 299.42 pass yards per game, including a staggering 27 passing touchdowns and 12.88 yards per completion. To help shore up the defensive secondary, Memphis added seven newcomers, including standouts Dion Witty out of Coral Springs High School in Coral Springs, Fla. and Anthony Watson out of Blinn Community College in Brenham, Texas.

Witty recorded 179 tackles his senior year to go along with nine interceptions and five forced fumbles. Watson finished his season with 50 tackles and three forced fumbles. Both players, as well as the other five defensive backfield signings, add much needed toughness and speed to a depleted Tiger secondary.

On the other side of the ball, Memphis focused on the offensive line and tight end positions, signing a total of ten players to fortify the front.

"We inherited very few on scholarship, so we tried to bring in as many big guys as we could," Fuente said. "We still needed to fill out the skill positions at quarterback, wide receiver and running back, but our primary focus was in those two spots."

Kerwin Harrison, from Kathleen High School in Lakeland, Fla., possesses the skills to give the Tigers an immediate threat at the tight end position. In his senior season, Harrison posted 22 receptions for 370 yards with two touchdowns. His 6-3, 225 lb frame provides size for Memphis.

The offensive line will add size as well. Mammoth lineman Markeith Minnick, 6'6", 295 lbs., out of Hargrave Military Academy in Chatham, Va. and Antonio Foster, 6'4", 300 lbs., out of Northeast Mississippi Community College in Booneville, Miss., bring size and strength to the offensive line.

Also joining the Tigers will be highly touted quarterback Will Gross from local high school Melrose, and Texas Tech transfer Jacob Karam. Before suffering a season-ending knee injury during his senior season in 2011, Gross passed for 1,200 yards and 22 touchdowns. Despite that injury, he was named the Offensive Player of the Year. Karam was delegated to a backup role at Texas Tech, but he threw for 3,291 yards and 38 touchdowns his senior season at Friendswood High School in Friendswood, Texas.

"I'm really excited about these kids," Fuente said. "These kids are good kids and they want to be here. I feel like we hit on what we needed to do and I'm really excited about that."