Head Coach: Ryan Silverfield is entering 6th year as the head coach of the Tigers with a 42-21 record. His first game as the head coach with the program was in the 2019 Cotton Bowl against Penn State, pretty challenging! That Cotton Bowl loss is his only bowl loss with Memphis and overall Silverfield has maintained strong success with the program. There’s one thing missing and that is a conference championship, when will he get over the hump?
Program Outlook: It’s astounding to look at Memphis now compared to just a little over a decade ago. The Tigers were a struggling football program but the AAC took a chance on them despite results that weren’t great and after floundering to a 3-9 record in their AAC debut in 2013 it felt like they would weigh the conference down. Suddenly the turnaround happened they went 10-3 in 2014 and haven’t looked back. Since that point Memphis has established themselves as a consistent top contender in their conference.
How does the 2025 Roster look?: Memphis had a very senior heavy roster last year and that means a lot of changes this year. Memphis ranks 116th in the country returning 39.5% of their production per Punt and Rally’s returning production rankings. Memphis did make some portal moves as you’d expect. At QB, Memphis has a competition for the first time in a while. It’s hard to remember a time when Seth Henigan wasn’t set as the starter but here we are, the Tigers have some exciting young options and if that doesn’t work they also brought in an experienced option in Brenden Lewis who comes from Nevada & Colorado, Lewis hasn’t found his way as a passer but he’s a dynamic runner. Highly touted freshman AJ Hill will compete with Lewis for the spot. Greg Desrosiers Jr appears to be locked in as the next man up at RB, knowing how Memphis develops this position we can expect good things. The portal will factor in heavily at receiver, the Tigers added Jadon Thompson (Louisville) and CJ Smith (Purdue) to mix in with younger homegrown players like Brady Kluse. The offensive line returned 2 starters which is more than you can say about any other unit on the team. On the defensive side of the ball Drue Watts from Nevada gives Memphis their “quarterback” on that side of the ball. The defensive line will be led by probably the best returnee for the Tigers in William Whitlow Jr who briefly hit the portal but came back. Pooda Walker (Kennesaw State) and Chase Carter (UIW) both seem ready to step in and make an impact. The secondary is portal heavy too with Myles Pollard (Michigan) and Omarion Cooper (Florida State) expected to fill the corner spots.
Screenshot from FBSchedules.com
2025 Schedule Thoughts: Memphis has a manageable schedule. They open with Chattanooga who is expected to be a top 25 FCS team, and then go on the road against Georgia State/Troy. Neither of those teams reached a bowl last year but they are tricky road tests. Then comes the big game where Memphis will host Arkansas, it’s a huge deal to get the Razorbacks in the Liberty bowl to finally face them (Arkansas has been in the bowl game itself multiple times recently.) This is a cool regional game so massive props to Arkansas for scheduling it. The conference schedule isn’t bad, it’s generally balanced with 4 contenders and 4 rebuilding teams. Most importantly, Memphis gets a lot of those games against contenders back loaded. If they’re breaking in a young QB it would give them plenty of time to get him adjusted before the most critical part of their schedule.
Final Thoughts: Memphis is a steady program at the top of the AAC but this year will challenge that some. Following an all-in year with a senior heavy roster is a challenge with all those players gone. There’s definitely a danger of regression here with such a new roster, but I have confidence they won’t fall too far thanks to the continuity of the coaching staff. It also helps that Memphis has some time before they hit the meat of their conference schedule.
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