The University of Memphis formally introduced Charles Huff as its new football coach Wednesday afternoon at the Billy J. Murphy Athletic Complex. Huff succeeds Ryan Silverfield, who departed for the University of Arkansas after six seasons on the Tiger sideline and the third-most wins (50) in program history.
“I’ve been through a lot of these processes,” said Huff in front of a throng of Tiger fans, boosters, media, and not incidentally, athletes. “This was the most thorough, collaborative, involved process I’ve ever been through. [Former Alabama coach] Nick Saban always told me the way you’re hired is the way your tenure is going to go. It wasn’t just one or two people who made decisions on this. The entire community is involved.”
Huff is the most significant hire to date by Memphis athletic director Ed Scott, now in his second academic year overseeing the department. “The state of our football program is strong,” noted Scott. “We’ve done a great job building a foundation. Our goals are to be a Top-25 program, to compete for championships, and to play in the College Football Playoff. We wanted someone with a commitment to player and character development, and someone with strong regional recruiting ties.”
The 42-year-old Huff oversaw a resurrection in his one season as head coach at Southern Miss, leading the Golden Eagles to a 7-5 record a year after a 1-11 mark. In four years (2021-24) at Marshall, Huff posted a record of 32-20 and led the Thundering Herd to a bowl game each season, topped by a 10-3 campaign in 2023. He has earned the reputation as a stellar recruiter, most significantly during stints as an assistant at Penn State (2014-17) and Alabama (2019-20), where he helped the latter to the 2020 national championship.
Huff posed the rhetorical question, “Why Memphis?,” and answered as you’d expect: “Why not Memphis? This is the first time in my career that I’m taking over a program that’s not broken. I’m taking over a program where long-term goals match my long-term goals. I’m taking over a program that has elite support. I’m taking over a program that has elite resources. My mission: Close the gap. We’ve been good and won a lot of games. It’s time to win a championship.”
Huff stressed a culture he intends to maintain with the Memphis program. “How we act, interact, and react,” he emphasized. “We’ve got to have a positive attitude every single day. I was raised by my grandmother and she told me, ‘Somebody’s got it worse.’ There are a million schools that wish they were Memphis. There are a million student-athletes who wish they were at Memphis.
“I’m not standing here today because of my last name or who my dad was,” continued Huff. “I made a decision a long time ago to outwork people. If I can outwork you, I have a chance to beat you. I don’t know who they schedule, and I really don’t care. Spot the ball, we’ll play you.”
The new Memphis football coach concluded his remarks with a reference to the longtime school mascot. “A message to the nation,” he said. “Tigers are apex predators in the world, at the top of the food chain. Their job is to reset and establish order in the ecosystem. It’s time for the Memphis Tigers to get to the top of the food chain and establish order and consistency in the college football ecosystem.”
The Tigers have earned bowl eligibility in 12 consecutive seasons and will play North Carolina State in the Gasparilla Bowl on December 19th in Tampa, Florida. Cornerbacks coach Reggie Howard will serve as interim head coach for the postseason contest.