Good guy Tommy West was fired at Memphis yesterday. He started a press conference — in retrospect, giving him that platform was probably a mistake — by saying getting fired isn’t a good day at the office.

Somehow, I don’t believe that applied in this case. Somewhere, BCS conference facilitator Mike Tranghese’s jaw dropped and broke his foot.

West got mounting frustration off of his chest. He blistered the university and the administration. He ripped the fans for negativity. He singed the press. It was intense. It was therapeutic. It was memorable. It was absolutely needed.

Remember, this is the team many speculate will join the Big East. West painted a pretty bleak picture and succinctly explained why it either won’t or shouldn’t happen.

However, if Memphis is to one day join a BCS league, it should thank West, who told the Tigers a few ugly truths. He said, in essence, make it work or make it go away.

“We’ve got some really good fans who’ve got to stand up right now. Sometimes a head coach can’t say things. If you do, it’s kind of sour grapes and you can’t say exactly the way it is. What I would say to them is, ‘Now is the time to stand up for your university, for your football program.’ I’m the seventh straight coach who stands here saying the same things to you. It’s the seventh straight time it’s happened and history will continue to repeat itself, folks, if you don’t do something about it. Whoever they hire, it’ll be a good guy, OK, and I’ll pull for him, OK, but fans have got to demand. They’ve got to do one of two things. You have to demand that you give him an equal stick to fight with within the conference and you’ve got to give him a level playing field. Give him that.”

He said Memphis should do one of two things. That was one. The other?

“At some point in time, you’ve got to say, ‘We’ve got to help this football program. We’ve got to do the things necessary to make this what we want it or do away with it.’ As a coach, it’s too painful. It’s painful for coaches and for players and for people and for fans. It’s painful. Put something in it or do away with it. One way or the other.”

Ah, yes. The nuclear option. But they’ll hire a good guy, OK, and West will cheer for him, OK. This is a dandy job people will line up for because the university supports football. And the Tigers will be in the Big East soon! And they’ll be competitive!

Or not.

But, hey, at least there are the fans! What’s that? They’re not so good? They eat you up?

“There is a group. There is a negativity like nowhere I’ve ever coached. I’ve coached at a lot of places. This is the only place. There is a negativity here that in the end eats you up. It’s hard to win today. It’s hard. The game is harder to win than it’s ever been. If you’ve got to fight battles around your own program, around your own campus, around your own city, it makes it very difficult.”