As he stands along the sidelines of a University of Memphis football practice, he easily could be mistaken for a veteran assistant coach.

He certainly passes the eyeball test.

With arms folded, he quietly observes the workout through his dark-shaded lenses. A blue Tigers baseball cap fits snug over his neatly trimmed white hair. A gray Memphis T-shirt, black shorts, white socks and tennis shoes lend credibility to "the look" of an assistant.

The only thing missing is a whistle around his neck.

Jim West never has coached football. He's never played the sport. But he's been to every Tigers practice and game since Sept. 1 and expects to maintain that schedule throughout the season.

The reason for such devotion?

His son, Tommy, is the team's successful head coach. His grandson, Turner, is a freshman defensive back. Jim, 74, says he hasn't spent such an extended period with his son in more than 30 years. He hasn't spent this much time with his grandson in the nearly 19 years since his birth.

"It's special, very special," Jim said.

The smile confirms it. So do the brief daily chats with his son after practices. And the interaction with his grandson, who always finds a moment to greet his grandfather before walking to the locker room.

Jim and his wife, Carol, live in Gainesville, Ga., but are spending the fall in Memphis to enjoy the Tigers' season without the exhausting back-and-forth travel. The benefits are many, including getting to know Turner.

"I get to see my other (two) grandkids, they live a quarter of a mile from me," Jim said. "I hadn't been around Turner at all, except when we visited, since he was born. I think he's a nice guy. He has his head on straight. He comes back (after practice) and sees me every day."

Jim spent 32 years in the banking business before retiring six years ago. He filled the void by working in the golf pro shop at the Chattahoochee Country Club near his home. When the course closed this fall for renovations, Jim pitched the idea of an extended stay in Memphis to his wife.

"I've been wanting to do this for about four years and now I've gotten the chance to do it," Jim said. "I remember Carol asking me, ‘What games should we go to this year?' And I said why not all of them."

Tommy welcomed the idea, which came shortly after his father completed eight weeks of radiation treatments for prostate cancer. Jim, Tommy said, received "a clean bill of health."

"Having Dad here has been a treat," Tommy said. "I left home when I was 18 (to attend the University of Tennessee on a football scholarship) and I never went back. It's been mostly long-distance phone calls the last 30 years.

"To have him (in Memphis) for a three-month period, and to have him here every day ... it's been great."

Jim has done more than observe workouts. He's helped equipment manager Marc Hohorst with preparations for the daily practices. Director of football operations John Flowers said Jim shows up at 10 a.m. at the Murphy Athletic Complex and doesn't leave until practice ends nearly seven hours later.

"He's having a blast," Flowers said. "He left the motel early (last weekend in Greenville, N.C.) with the other managers. They go early to set everything up. He left two hours before the team left (to play East Carolina). He was there getting everything ready."

The experience has been educational, even for someone whose son has been around college football since the mid-1970s. Jim said he had an idea of the time demands of the coaching staff, but "was amazed at what goes on in the equipment room ... all the preparation involved."

Jim said he couldn't recall spending as much time around his son since Tommy was a multi-sport standout at Gainesville High in the early 1970s.

"It's just been weekends and that type thing," Jim said. "You'd have to go back to high school when I was around him this much. There's been nothing like this since he began his coaching career."

Jim made last weekend's trip to Greenville, N.C. — for the team's Conference USA opener against East Carolina — on the team charter. He said he doesn't discuss football matters with his son. He leaves that to his wife, who freely dispenses advice.

Tommy recalled a situation when his mom chastised him for having his team relinquish a field goal after an opponents' offsides penalty. Tommy had hoped to get a touchdown from the renewed drive, but it stalled inside the 10.

"She let me know that you never take points off the board," he said. "I've never taken points off the board since."

Tommy said the gathering of three generations of the West family has been a rare treat, one he is cherishing.

"I was seeing Dad maybe twice a year," Tommy said. "And I hadn't seen much of my son, either. Growing up, I was at work when he got up and I was at work when he went to bed. I got to see him play some high school games (at Briarcrest Christian) but as far as seeing him on a daily basis, I never did because I was always working.

"Now to have him out here every day, and to see my dad every day, it doesn't get better than this."