Tuesday morning was about the Memphis Tigers as Ryan Silverfield took to the 2024 American Athletic Conference Media Day podium to give the nation the annual State of Program speech. Just a mere hours after being named the preseason pick to win the American Athletic Conference by the media, Memphis was the talk of the conference as they presented the press with a careful approach to give the fans back in Memphis something to be excited about as the Tigers turn the page to fall camp and returning a championship trophy and a bid to the College Football Playoff back to the 901.

Despite returning 69% of their offensive production, Coach Silverfield tried his best on Tuesday not to give too much excitement to keep the bullies off his program. Embracing every game, even the North Alabama season opener, is essential to this program as it chases the bigger fishes of the college football world. Despite the coaches’ talk, there were moments on Tuesday when one could pinpoint the sheer excitement from Coach Silverfield for the 2024 Memphis Football season. There were signs that Coach Silverfield liked his team this season and had expectations that they would be the Memphis Football team that would follow through, further extending the brand of Memphis Football for generations to come.

Last season, Memphis capped off a ten-win season with a win over Iowa State in the 2023 AutoZone Liberty Bowl, setting the scene for the hysteria to follow in the fall of 2024. Since 2016, Memphis Football has found the recipe for sustained success, going to ten straight bowl games and 21-3 in November. There has been so much sustained success that Memphis added a few Southeastern Conference guys to the transfer portal to improve the brand of Tigers Football further. The biggest high school recruit in the program’s history was Antwann Hill, who decided on Memphis over various schools, including many in the Southeastern Conference. Hill, like many others, is flocking to the 901 to play under Ryan Silverfield after the recent decision from Fred Smith at FedEx to invest in the NIL for Memphis to recruit and compete at the highest level in college football. The stadium renovations to the Liberty Bowl have recruits talking and excited about playing for Coach Silverfield and the Memphis Tigers.

Coach Silverfield also mentioned the veteran leadership of Koby Drake, Roc Taylor, Demeer Blankumsee, and Seth Henigan on the offensive side of the ball while mentioning Chandler Martin, among others on the other side. Coach Silverfield spent a lot of time talking about the depth of his offensive line position, saying this might be the deepest his offensive line unit has been since taking over the job at Memphis. On top of those talking points from a roster standpoint, Coach Silverfield mentioned having 31 true freshmen on this year’s Memphis Football team and how the older players will be able to develop the next ground of Memphis Football players.

Overall, Tuesday morning was more of a celebration of Tigers Football while maintaining the goal of taking the next step this fall. Undoubtedly, the 2024 Memphis Football team will have a target on their back as everyone in the American Athletic Conference will be gunning for their spot on top. Still, Memphis has the talent and the mental toughness to finish the job of delivering a championship or two to the city of Memphis. Memphis will have an early test on September 14th as they travel to Florida to take on Mike Norvell and the Florida State Seminoles. A win over Florida State would give Memphis the runway to run the tables, winning the AAC and earning a bid to the 2024 College Football Playoff. It’s all right for the taking; Memphis controls their destiny with everything before them.