It’s a new day within the Memphis Tigers football program as Athletics Director Dr. Ed Scott has formally announced to the city of Memphis its new Head Football Coach Charles Huff, who brings to the 901 a winning pedigree backed by the support of Coach Nick Saban, James Franklin, and others. Coach Huff took to the podium and won the first game of his career as Head Coach of the Memphis Tigers, as he won the fan base over with a message of winning championships, and taking what’s already inside the program to new heights by going from a program that just wins games, but competes for championships and makes the standard of reaching the College Football Playoff on a consistent basis. 

Coach Huff mentioned it in his opening, but he takes over a program with resources to compete for championships. His previous two stops as Head Coach were rebuilding efforts with Coach Huff taking Marshall and winning the Sun Belt without the support of the administration before taking a 2-10 Southern Miss program into a 7-5 program that was in the running for a Sun Belt Championship late in the season. Now at Memphis, he has been given the keys to a successful program with nearly unlimited resources to compete at the highest level. 

With those resources come expectations, and Coach Huff talked about it head-on by setting the standard of winning championships or bust. Memphis has never had a coach who set that standard from the start. Coach Huff came in and called his shot and made it to where it’s championship or bust for the program, and in today’s current climate with college football, setting that standard early is both a blessing and a curse. Coach Huff came to Memphis meaning business and wanted to deliver on the culture of Tigers Football. Dr. Ed Scott had a mission to deliver Memphis with a championship-caliber coach, and he brought in a man promoted by the greatest to ever do it.  Now, Memphis has a proven winner at the helm, and the culture has never been better. 

Another takeaway from the press conference today was the pillars that will shape the program into a program ready to take that next step in winning championships and being the standard for others to strive for. Memphis fans will learn the three main cultural pillars that will shape Memphis football under Coach Huff. Application, not theory, combined with the core values of act, interact, and react, Coach Huff will have this Memphis football program ready to bridge the gap. “ Champions react a certain way.” Coach Huff went on to say it comes to “positive attitude, unbelievable work ethic, compete in everything you do, and discipline.” Those are the things that Coach Huff brings to Memphis and will implement for this program to be successful while bridging the gap and taking Memphis to the next level. 

As Coach Huff said, “ Spot the ball, we’ll play you.” Memphis has longed for a leader of its football program that won’t only win games, but will bridge that gap that takes the Tigers to the next level. Dr. Ed Scott hit a home run with this hire, and given the resources that Memphis has, Coach Huff has the potential now to take what Memphis has, by using that mometum to bridge the gap by protecting recruiting in Memphis, while delivering championships to the 901. 

Photo Credits- Memphis Football on X