Gray, Porter Lead Memphis Search

The search for the next University of Memphis football coach is moving at an accelerated pace as the regular season winds to a close and it appears the race to replace Tommy West is down to two candidates: Washington Redskins defensive assistant Jerry Gray and LSU assistant head coach Larry Porter. Sources close to the process said Sunday that Gray, 46, or Porter, 37, could be named as early as next week. The Tigers (2-9) play their finale Friday at Tulsa in a Conference USA game that will end the nine-year run of West. West, the former Clemson coach, led the program to five bowl appearances in the past seven seasons, but his teams have gone 17-32 since 2006. Neither Gray nor Porter has head coaching experience at any level. – Commercial Appeal