The most inane interview in sports journalism is conducted on a football sideline between a microphone person and a football coach.

The question is usually something profound like, "How does it feel?" The answer is often something insightful like, "Great."

The coach then scurries off to the locker room to celebrate the greatness of the occasion with the players who made it possible. The microphone person then switches us back to the booth.

The routine is so familiar and so brief, it rarely even registers. But last December, University of Memphis coach Tommy West made it register.

I don't remember what the microphone person asked after West's team defeated North Texas 27-17 in the New Orleans Bowl. I'll take a wild guess and say it was something like, "How does it feel?"

The response is what got my attention. It wasn't an answer. It was a campaign speech on behalf of a football program that often has gotten less attention than a sideline interview.

"We've just touched the surface here," was West's message, which he delivered with conviction. Eight months later, his optimism hasn't ebbed.

The former University of Tennessee player and assistant coach believes he can win at Memphis, which returns 16 starters from last year's nine-win team. But his reference to winning isn't about a game, a bowl or a single season. He's talking about winning on a regular basis.

"This is a good place," said West, who is beginning his fourth year as the Tigers' head coach. "People told me it was a bad job because this is a basketball town. That's hogwash. This is a sports town."

The program's recruiting attributes aren't limited to the city limits, according to West. He sees the vast rural areas from Memphis to St. Louis and to Jackson, Miss., as fertile recruiting ground for a coach who grew up in Gainesville, Ga., and knows the advantage of a trustworthy drawl.

"I grew up in a small town in the Southeast," he said. "I can talk their language. If you have a fast-talking guy in a suit and tie, they're not going to trust him. That's just the mentality in the Southeast."

West is also comfortable recruiting the city of Memphis, which has become infamous for recruiting scandals, the most publicized of which involved high school coaches and Alabama boosters.

"I remember when I was an assistant to Danny Ford at Clemson," West said. "I went through Memphis and stayed one day. Everybody had their hand out.

"We've got a much better high school system now. There are some good, solid people coaching (in the high schools)."

The college coaches who were once scared off by the city's recruiting scandals have returned, according to West. But he's convinced he can get his share of players in the city and the rural areas surrounding it.

"When I was growing up, kids wanted to go to an SEC school," West said. "Now, they're more into, 'How can your system help me? Will it showcase my talents?' "

The same coach who once studied General Neyland's maxims now caters to a different era of prospects. He believes that a wide-open offense is as much of a necessity as defense and the kicking game.

Memphis' offense is about as wide-open as any in the Southeast. Running back DeAngelo Williams rushed for a school-record 1,430 yards last year despite missing the last three games with an injury; senior quarterback Danny Wimprine, who has been a starter since the last half of his freshman season, already holds 25 school records; everybody else returns from an offense that averaged a school-record 445.5 yards per game.

With all that firepower returning, Memphis is getting top-25 recognition in some preseason publications. And with all that firepower returning, Memphis is anything but an easy mark for a traditional power in search of an accommodating non-conference opponent.

The University of Tennessee's smartest football decision since last year was to cancel its November game with Memphis. Instead of playing a good Memphis team on the road, it will play an unimposing Louisiana Tech team at Neyland Stadium.

Next year, the Vols will have a home game against the Tigers, who will lose six offensive starters. But West insists they won't fall off the football map.

"Absolutely not," he said. "I'm excited about the guys we're recruiting, the freshmen who won't have to play for a year or two. That's the way you build consistency.

"I believe we're just getting started."

John Adams may be reached at 865-342-6284 or adamsj@knews.com.