LSU official: Memphis to hire Tigers assistant coach Larry Porter as new head coach

AP Source: LSU assistant to take Memphis job

BATON ROUGE, La. — An LSU official says Tigers assistant Larry Porter has accepted an offer to become the next head coach at Memphis.

The official spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because Porter did not plan to inform the Tigers’ players of his decision until after Saturday night’s game against Arkansas.

Memphis officials have scheduled a news conference for Sunday, but athletic department spokesman Bob Winn said Saturday only that the announcement “pertains to the football program.”

Memphis (2-10) completed its season with a 33-30 overtime loss against Tulsa on Friday. Coach Tommy West was fired earlier in the month, but finished out the season. He was 49-61 in nine seasons as Tigers coach.

Porter, a former Memphis running back, is LSU’s running backs coach and a top recruiter for the program.

He has been with LSU for five seasons, coming over from Oklahoma State with coach Les Miles in 2005.

Porter played four seasons at Memphis and finished his career in 1993 with 2,194 yards rushing. He ranks sixth in school history in rushing and fourth in rushing touchdowns with 20.

He started his coaching career at Tennessee-Martin in 1998.