It’s been an amazing off-season for the University of Memphis football program. The Tigers were coming off a 10-win season and an impressive AutoZone Liberty Bowl victory over Iowa State. The good news for the program and head coach Ryan Silverfield came in waves once the final whistle was blown on that cold December night where the Tigers beat the Cyclones 36-26 in front of a pro-Tigers home crowd.
The first big announcement to have a direct effect on this year’s football team is the return of senior QB Seth Henigan. Granted that news came before the Liberty Bowl was played but it was a huge get nonetheless for Coach Silverfield. Another major announcement that came nearly two weeks before the bowl game came through the transfer portal. South Carolina running back Mario Anderson announced he was leaving Columbia and making his to Memphis to take over for Blake Watson, who is now looking to make a roster in the NFL. Anderson gained 860 all-purpose yards and scored four touchdowns in his one season with the Gamecocks. He did record back-to-back 1200+ yard seasons while at Newberry College before transferring to South Carolina.
The hits kept coming throughout the months leading up to next week’s season opener against South Alabama and the defense got in on the fun as well. University of Tennessee’s leading tackler from last year, Elijah Herring, announced in May that he was ditching the garbage detail orange for the blue and grey. The linebacker chose Memphis over Colorado, Kansas State and Virginia Tech. The sight of Herring alongside All-AAC first-teamer Chandler Martin will be a terrifying sight for opposing players.
The wide receiver room will be full of familiar faces as the Tigers return their top 3 pass catchers in Roc Taylor, Demeer Blankumsee and Koby Drake. Seth Henigan will also have a new toy to play with in four-star recruit Keened Henry who will be looking to make an impact early in the season.
The one question for the Tigers offense that has yet to be truly answered is the “How will the offensive line hold up after losing three starters from last season?” Gone are left tackle Maklyan Pounders, center Jacob Likes, and right guard Davion Carter. Xavier Hill played three different positions last season and the plan is to move him to the inside of the line this year and will be joined by Jonah Gambill as they fight it out to see who will take over for Likes. Malachi Gildehaus made his first career start in the Liberty Bowl and has coaches excited about his season. The offensive line will also feature some transfers including Jaylen Nichols, Trent Holler, and Keydrell Lewis.
In April, away from the gridiron came what could some may consider the most important touchdown in program history. Fred Smith, the man behind FedEx and a lifelong University of Memphis fan and supporter, announced through his company he is creating an NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness) program benefiting the school’s student-athletes. The program is currently set for five years with $5 million per year being contributed to the program.
It is unclear how much of the money is going to each sport under the athletic department but it is believed that the football program is getting the biggest cut. This donation puts the football program on par with a number of schools from Power 5 conferences and could help to finally get Memphis the invite into a power conference they have been chasing for years.
The impact of the NIL can already be seen in the future as Memphis landed Seth Henigan’s heir apparent in Warner Robbins, GA high school QB Antwann Hill. Hill is ESPN’s No. 3 ranked pocket passer for 2025 and chose Memphis over Colorado. He will be joined by three-star wide receiver recruit Xavier Johnson and cornerback Xavier Thompson next year.
Let’s not get to far ahead of ourselves as the 2024 season is lined up to potentially surpass the levels of excitement the 2019 season brought to the Bluff City when the Tigers were the Group of 5 representative in the New Year’s Six, losing to Micah Parsons and the Penn State Nittany Lions 53-39 in the Cotton Bowl. Memphis, along with Boise State, Tulane, and Liberty, are the frontrunners to be the committee’s choice as the playoff representative form the Group of 5 teams.
The schedule is a bit daunting for the Tigers in 2024 as its toughest matchups are all on the road this season. In conference play they travel to both UTSA and Tulane. The Roadrunners and the Green Wave are considered favorites to win the AAC along with the Tigers. If Memphis can pick up wins on the road in San Antonio and New Orleans then they should be in great position to host the AAC Championship game. Outside of conference play Memphis is going on the road to visit its old head coach Mike Norvell. Norvell coached the Tigers from 2016 to 2019 before taking the head coaching job at Florida State. This will be Memphis’ first visit to Tallahassee since a 57-20 loss in 1989. That Bobby Bowden team featured Brad Johnson, Charlie Ward, Terrell Buckley and LeRoy Butler and finished 3rd overall after a Fiesta Bowl win over Nebraska.
Gaining a victory against the Seminoles will be the toughest task the Tigers face all year and win or lose Memphis will still have a great chance to make the playoffs after September 14. What they do after that game will truly decide how far this team can go. Weeks one and two against North Alabama and Troy should catapult the Tigers to 2-0 before the trip to Tallahassee. A trip to Annapolis follows the next week with Memphis starring the triple-option right in the face before coming home to face Conference USA’s Middle Tennessee State University.
The Blue Raiders game marks the fifth game of the season and barring any kind of embarrassment Memphis should be sitting at 4-1 at the worst assuming the Seminoles handle business. The Tigers first bye week comes at a great time as they will have a midseason chance to rest and tend to some any early season injuries before things begin to truly heat up in conference play.
A Friday night primetime game against South Florida greets the Tigers coming out of the bye week before home games against North Texas and Charlotte prepare the team for their first of two conference road challenges. The November 22 matchup with UTSA in San Antonio should find the Tigers sitting with no more than one loss on the season. The Tigers should find themselves favored in every AAC game this season including the matchup against the Road Runners and the season finale against Tulane.
The home part of the season ends in back-to-back weeks with games against Rice and UAB. Memphis should arrive in New Orleans at 10-1 and if the Green Wave is as good as advertised the AAC Championship game should already be set up with the two teams already to set to meet the next week in Memphis.
Let’s say the Tigers are able to go 10-2 at worst in the regular season and then win the AAC Championship game they should be in a favorable position to make the 12-team playoff. In the AAC, Tulane had to replace head coach Willie Fritz and signal caller Michael Pratt is gone, UTSA also had to replace their quarterback as well as leading receiver Joshua Caphus leaving both teams with huge holes to fill. Nationally, Liberty is a sexy choice by many to make the playoff as they went undefeated during the regular season last year playing in a very watered down Conference USA. The Flames could also be held back if they repeat their success as they were the Group of Five representative last year and were trounced by Oregon 45-6 in the Fiesta Bowl.
The team that truly stands in Memphis’ path to the playoff is Boise State. The Broncos return every starter on defense that greatly improved as the season went along. The offense returns its leading rusher Aston Jeanty and welcomes former five-star recruit Malachi Nelson who should be the favorite to start at the quarterback position. Like Memphis, Boise St. has an early, difficult road test giving the Broncos an opportunity to jump ahead of the pack in search for a playoff spot. Boise St. has a week two trip to Oregon that will difficult to say the least. Add that to the two home games they have against former Pac-12 schools Washington St. and Oregon St. and the Broncos have one tough path to the promised land.
No matter if you are the University of Michigan or the Kansas City Chiefs there is a little luck needed as well as great play on the field in order to hoist a championship trophy at the end of the season and Memphis will need its fair share just to make it in to the bracket. Maybe this year the ball will bounce just the right way for the Tigers to fulfill its goals and it is very evident that they have the experience and talent to take that next step.
In predicting the season for the Tigers I took a big swig of Tiger Tail from Grind City Brewing Company and looked at everything from schedule to roster to coaching staff and everything in between.
Outside of the Florida State game the early part of the season presents no true danger to the Tigers. The two toughest conference games are on the road but they are late in the season and if healthy Memphis should be firing on all cylinders by then. Coach Silverfield signed a huge contract extension this offseason and is ready to prove to the school and city that it was warranted. Boise State will lose to Oregon, split with the PAC-2 teams and lose a conference game as well. Leaving Memphis in the driver seat for the Group of 5 playoff spot. When the dust settles in early December the Memphis Tigers will be 12-1 after winning the AAC Championship game inside the Simmons Bank Liberty Bowl Stadium and will be selected to participate in 12-team playoff.
In 2024, the University of Memphis Football Tigers are ready to POUNCE!
Steven McCash is the Lead Music Writer and Utility Man for SoBros Network. Steven is the host of the ‘Drinking With…’ podcast, and the pioneer of New Music Friday, highlighting each week’s new releases in the world of music in addition to the occasional live show review. He also pitches in as a Nashville lifestyle writer and football analyst (hence the ‘Utility Man’ title). Follow on Twitter: @MC_Cash75
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