Tuesday night was a night of celebration for Memphis Football. The Tigers earned an 11th win for the second time in program history, the first under Head Coach Ryan Silverfield. For many, the 2024 Memphis Tigers Football season was an overall success despite missing the American Athletic Championship. 

For the true Memphis fans who remember just how far the program has come since the days of blowout losses to Southern Miss, Marshall, and others, Tuesday night was the final layer of icing on the cake for the 2024 season. Although not perfect, the sustained success under Coach Silverfield deserves more celebration than it’s getting. In the last two seasons, Memphis has won 21 games, losing five to other respectful programs while maintaining a certain standard where the roster turnover was minimal. 

On top of the 11th win, Seth Henigan ended his career on Tuesday night as one of the best quarterbacks to wear the blue and grey. In an era where guys come and go like the wind, Henigan gave four incredible years to the program, where he learned and adapted to adversity to leave behind a legacy that will be hard to replace. There’ll never be another Seth Henigan who gave his all for Memphis while overcoming outside noise, his mistakes, and an unreal amount of adversity. The records set by Seth Henigan will be hard to break in the modern era of college football, where the Tigers might never have a four-year starter again. 

Overall, the 2024 season was a success. Sure, a Conference Championship might not have been in the playing cards for the Tigers this season, but after winning eleven games with one of the best recruiting classes in program history, the trajectory of the program under the leadership of Coach Silverfield has never been better. Memphis has a challenging schedule next season with Arkansas coming to the Liberty Bowl on September 20th, road games at Georgia State, and Troy, the Tigers will again be battle-tested for a deep run in the American Athletic Conference. For a program like Memphis, perception is everything. Although not overly attractive ways of doing it, the Tigers continue to win and maintain a level of excellence never seen before in the program’s history.