University of Memphis Athletics
Fichtner and Cullen Added to Football Staff
Feb 20, 2001 | Football
Feb. 20, 2001
Memphis, TN -
Randy Fichtner, who has served as offensive coordinator at Arkansas State University for the past four seasons and Joe Cullen, the defensive coordinator at the University of Richmond, have been recommended to the State Board of Regents, by head coach Tommy West, to serve on the staff at The University of Memphis.
"I don't believe that I had ever met Randy before I started interviewing him for our offensive coordinators position," said West. "However, after the first interview, I knew that he was a great fit for our staff. His football philosophy and mine are very similar. Everything just seemed to click.
"Joe Cullen has worked at Richmond for several years and also coached at LSU under Gerry DiNardo," West said. "He has an outstanding reputation as a defensive line coach and brings a wealth of experience to our defensive staff."
Fichtner, who coached at Memphis under former head coach Chuck Stobart, spent four years on Joe Hollis' staff at ASU. He arrived in Jonesboro as quarterback coach in the spring of 1997 and was named offensive coordinator in August of `97.
During his tenure at ASU Fichtner has worked with quarterback Cleo Lemon, who has set nearly every ASU passing and total offense record. Lemon became Arkansas State's all-time leading passer as a junior and added to his totals in 2000.
Prior to joining the staff at ASU, Fichtner spent three years at Purdue University, his alma mater, serving as wide receiver coach and recruiting coordinator.
The Cleveland, Ohio, native came to Memphis in the fall of 1990 under Chuck Stobart and coached the Tiger receivers and quarterbacks for four seasons. During his stay at the University of Memphis, Fichtner worked with such noted receivers and quarterbacks and Steve Matthews, Keith Benton, Russell Copeland, Mac Cody and St. Louis Rams All-Pro receiver Isaac Bruce.
While at Memphis, Fichtner's Tiger offense set 44 records and produced back-to-back 6-5 records, marking the first consecutive winning seasons in almost 20 years.
Fichtner, age 38, had worked as a graduate assistant at Purdue (1985-86) and Michigan (1986-87), before joining Stobart as a volunteer coach at the University of Southern California in 1988. He landed his first full-time position in 1989 as tight end coach at Nevada-Las Vegas.
Fichtner is married to the former Jennifer Parker of Covington, Tennessee, and the couple has three children, son Nathaniel Ross, and daughters Shelby Brooke and Kirby Lynn.
Cullen served as the defensive coordinator and defensive line coach for the Richmond Spiders in 2000 after spending the 1999 season as the defensive line coach at LSU under Gerry DiNardo.
During the 2000 season the Spiders posted a 10-3 record and made it to the first round of the NCAA 1-AA playoffs. The Richmond defense allowed an average of just 92.5 yards rushing per game last season, while holding opponents to 16.7 points per game.
Prior to leaving Richmond for LSU, Cullen helped establish a Spider defense that was ranked among the leaders in Division 1-AA. In 1997, Richmond ranked 19th in the nation in scoring, allowing just 16.6 points per game and 261.9 yards of total offense per outing. UR led the Atlantic 10 defensively and set a school mark with 60 quarterback sacks.
In 1998, the Spiders led the Atlantic 10 in rushing defense, passing defense, total defense and scoring defense. The unit was ranked seventh in the nation in scoring defense and 11th in rushing defense.
Cullen played nose guard at the University of Massachusetts and started every game during his four year collegiate career. He captained the 1989 UMass squad and was a two-time All-New England selection. He was named first team All-ECAC in 1988 and was named second team All-Yankee Conference three consecutive years. In 1989, Cullen was honored as UMass's MVP. He also played on Minutemen teams that won the Yankee Conference Championship in 1986 and 1988. In 1989, the National Strength and Conditioning Association honored Cullen as an All-American.
Following graduation, the Quincey, Massachusetts, native spent one year as a graduate assistant at UMass before being hired as a full-time position coach in 1990. He moved to Richmond in 1992 as defensive line coach before being named as defensive coordinator in 1997.
