Five weeks into the Memphis Tigers’ current season, I mentioned a certain good-fortune factor that seemed to be playing a role for a program historically cursed by, we’ll call it today, less-than-good fortune. (Anyone remember the name Gino Guidugli?) When breaks happen on Tiger game days, historically, they don’t tend to go the blue-and-gray way. Folks … that was then. Since that column (October 2nd), Memphis has won a game in which it allowed a go-ahead touchdown with 47 seconds remaining in the contest. Memphis has won a game in which it allowed its opponent 50 points on home turf. And now, Memphis has won a game in which it trailed by 10 points on the road with less than eight minutes to play. That sparkling 8-2 record could easily be 5-5, or worse.
Following his team’s three-point win over Boise State on September 30th, Tiger coach Ryan Silverfield painted a picture of his team’s collective culture. Having fallen behind the Broncos, 17-0, the Memphis program seemed to turn a corner that may have changed this season permanently. “The 118 guys on the sideline were like, ‘What do we have to do? How do we keep fighting?’ That’s what makes this group special. There was no fret. There was no ‘Oh my gosh.’ Just, ‘What do we need to do to get back in this game?’” A win or two can be attributed to luck, and that goes for every team in every season. But a team doesn’t win eight of 10 games without having two things: collective talent and collective will. It’s been especially gratifying to see an “unlucky” football program pile up wins that seem to tilt in its favor in ways opponents once enjoyed.
• With SMU coming to Memphis this Saturday for a clash between 8-2 teams, you can’t help but think back to November 2, 2019, when an 8-0 Mustangs team visited a 7-1 Memphis team to cap the biggest Saturday — at that time — in the program’s history. With ESPN’s College GameDay crew on Beale Street and more than 58,000 fans packing the Liberty Bowl (no SEC team in sight!), the Tigers won a classic, 54-48, on its way to an AAC championship and a berth in the Cotton Bowl.
Both SMU (6-0 in the American Athletic Conference) and Memphis (5-1) are in contention to play in the AAC championship game … but the Tigers cannot afford another loss for such a dream (last realized in that unforgettable 2019 season). Will 50,000 fans pack what we now call Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium for this Saturday’s 11 a.m. kickoff? Almost certainly not. Might we see 40,000 in the stadium for the first time this fall? If not, more consideration needs to be given to the fact that the Tigers’ den is simply too large for the program. Because this Memphis team has earned a football party.
• The Tigers will take the field Saturday with a home record of 4-1 this season and a total of 55 home wins since 2014. Only three programs in the country have won more in front of their own fans over the last decade of college football, and you’ve heard of them: Alabama, Clemson, and Ohio State. No, Memphis isn’t beating SEC, ACC, or Big 10 foes. But the Tigers have made Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium a rough place to play for visitors. How many seasons before 2014 were needed for Memphis to win 55 home games? The answer is twenty (1994-2013), precisely twice as long as the current decade of joy. The “golden era” of Memphis Tiger football? You’re living it. Still.
The University of Memphis football program needs to be in a bigger, better conference than the American Athletic. This is a topic much discussed, and one that won’t go away until the dream is realized. The program is just as desperate, though, for a rival. A true, villainous, pure-evil, dressed-in-black-even-when-they’re-not rival. Which made Saturday’s game at UAB fun, and somewhat special as the Tigers work their way through a watered-down AAC schedule. The first “Battle for the Bones” in 11 years meant the heaviest rack of ribs — if not heaviest trophy — in college football would see daylight again. (The trophy weighs more than 90 pounds.) After a slow start, Memphis walloped the Blazers, 45-21, to improve to 5-2 on the season and retain ownership of those bronze bones. It felt like the Tigers turned back a rival.
Is UAB the Tigers’ answer for that role of gridiron gremlin? Not long-term, I don’t believe. They’ve actually only played 16 times (Memphis has won six). Compare that with Arkansas State, a Memphis foe no fewer than 62 times. But can the Red Wolves be considered THE rival for Memphis? Not until they’re in the same conference. Ole Miss and Mississippi State aren’t the answer, both part of the privileged SEC, and both dominant historically against Memphis. Tulane feels like a rival, particularly as the Green Wave has risen to the top of the AAC and won three of the last five meetings with the Tigers. I miss the Black-and-Blue Game with Southern Miss (last played in 2012). I’m not sure which program can play this role for Memphis, but with North Texas, South Florida, and Charlotte coming up on the Tigers’ schedule, I know a void when I see it.
• Saturday’s victory at UAB was the 26th win for Ryan Silverfield as head coach of the Memphis Tigers. It’s a significant number, for me, as it matches the total Justin Fuente compiled over his four seasons (2012-2015) atop the program. This isn’t to suggest Silverfield is as good a coach as Fuente, or has had the kind of impact on the program Fuente had (he has not), but it is a connection to the man we must credit most with turning a moribund program into one expected to play in a bowl game at season’s end, one expected to compete for conference championships. Fuente inherited a bottomed-out operation that had won a total of three games the two seasons before he took over. By his third year, Fuente commanded a 10-win AAC co-champion ranked 25th in the country. There have been few turnarounds in college football history as quick or as dramatic. Silverfield is a beneficiary of that turnaround, having arrived as an assistant to Mike Norvell in 2016 when Fuente departed for Virginia Tech. Will the Tigers win 10 games this season? Win the AAC? Both seem unlikely right now. But is the Memphis program relevant, competitive, worthy of attention? Absolutely. Here’s to 26 more wins, and then some, for Ryan Silverfield.
• Memphis is the only team in the AAC with a player among the league’s top four in passing (Seth Henigan, 265.1 yards per game), rushing (Blake Watson, 84.7), and receiving (Roc Taylor, 79.4). With 593 yards, Watson has already topped last season’s Tiger rushing leader (Jevyon Ducker, 544 yards). With 556 yards, Taylor will likely top last season’s leader (Eddie Lewis, 603 yards) this Saturday at North Texas. A football team doesn’t necessarily require an offensive “big three,” but one can help win a lot of games.
The Memphis Tigers have a rare breed in junior quarterback Seth Henigan. With the transfer portal shuffling college football rosters like an overstuffed deck of cards, an athlete playing the sport’s premium position at the same school for three years is becoming rare. In fact, only 15 FBS quarterbacks (among 133 programs) will appear in the same uniform for a third season this fall having started more games than Henigan’s 24. A recent review of said transfer portal revealed no fewer than 74 quarterbacks (starters and backups, mind you) having departed one program for another since the 2022 season concluded.
Yet Henigan remains in blue and gray, the colors he’s worn since, literally, the day after his high school team (Denton Ryan High School in North Texas) won the 2020 state championship. Having started his first college game as a true freshman in 2021, Henigan will graduate after the fall semester with a degree in business management. By that time, he’ll have three full college seasons under his belt, and still shy of his 21st birthday. What kind of season should Tiger fans expect? It would be tough to top the expectations of Henigan himself, a signal-caller in shoulder pads for as far back as his memory will take him.
Henigan grew up with two brothers (one older, one younger), so competition was woven into the family fabric. Basketball. Football. And the kind of “house sports” only the parents of sibling rivals can fully appreciate. “We’d play ping-pong, darts,” recalls Henigan. “I was always trying to be like my older brother Ian and beat him in everything. I played T-ball but didn’t move on to baseball. Played lacrosse for one year. I’ve always had good hand-eye coordination, but no sport was as fun to me as football.” Ironically, Henigan found himself injury prone in basketball, breaking his nose and his left hand on the hardwood. So hoops became past tense after his sophomore year of high school. “I needed to focus on football,” he says, “and get my body prepared for college.”
University of Memphis junior Seth Henigan will return for his third season as quarterback. A successful season will afford him the opportunity to become only the second quarterback in Tigers football history to post three 3,000-yard seasons. (Photo: Larry Kuzniewski)
Going all the way back to his earliest flag-football memories, Henigan can’t recall playing any position other than quarterback. It helps being the son of a highly successful coach. (Dave Henigan has coached Denton Ryan since 2014 and earned at least one Coach of the Year honor every year from 2016 through the championship season of 2020.) He would accompany his dad on game nights and spend the pregame tossing a football with anyone willing to toss it back. “It was a bonding time,” notes Henigan, “and with my brothers, too. I liked having the ball in my hands. I was pretty fast, and I could throw the ball better than the average kid. Being able to make plays, from a young age, that was the position I was going to play to be the most successful in this sport.”
If quarterback isn’t the hardest position in team sports, it’s in a short conversation. (We’ll allow the case for baseball’s catcher.) Physical tools — height, arm strength, foot quickness — take an athlete a long way, but playing quarterback well enough to win championships requires as much talent between the ears as elsewhere. And the ability to absorb contact is a requirement.
“As you move up levels, the position becomes way more taxing,” says Henigan, “both physically and mentally. I wasn’t hit that much in high school, but at the college level, it’s a different feeling. We don’t get hit in practice because [coaches] are trying to preserve quarterbacks. When you get hit for the first time, it changes the entire game. Having that experience early in my college career really toughened me up. You’re playing 300-pound defensive linemen, and their goal is to harass you.”
As for the mental component, it’s the invisible tools that made Tom Brady the Tom Brady, that allow Patrick Mahomes to see angles and gaps most quarterbacks cannot. “You know so much about coverages,” explains Henigan. “You know the names, you draw them up, you speak them. Some quarterbacks learn better verbally, and some need to see it on a board. Or going through it on a practice field.”
Henigan draws a parallel between a quarterback’s mental challenges and those of a decidedly less physical sport. “Golfers’ mental game is so important,” he notes. “It’s hard to compare to any other position on a football field. You’re in control of so many aspects. You know everyone’s assignment on offense. A middle linebacker may know this for the defense, but he doesn’t have control of the play’s outcome. A quarterback has the ball in his hands. There’s so much going on. You’re thinking of 21 other guys on a field, reacting to a defense. The defensive coordinator’s job is to confuse the quarterback. You have to react as the play is going on.”
In the time it takes you to read this sentence, a quarterback must decide between handing the ball to a running back, running the ball himself, or passing to as many as five potential receivers. “Decision-making, accuracy, and toughness are three of the most important components for a quarterback,” emphasizes Henigan. “Fluid intelligence is key. That’s how you make your money, so to speak. Offenses and defenses both have tendencies. After a while, you identify consistencies in the way defenses want to attack our offense. But it changes each year. The base knowledge helps though. You have an out-of-body experience. It feels like you’re watching yourself because you’ve done it so many times. It’s muscle memory, and natural. I’ve seen a lot.”
(Photo: Larry Kuzniewski)
Henigan grew up a college football fan, more so than any devotion he might have developed for an NFL team. With his family wrapped up in “Friday night lights” followed by college games on Saturday, Henigan’s mom would actually not allow football on television come Sunday. Henigan’s favorite quarterbacks were a pair of Heisman Trophy winners in the SEC: Auburn’s Cam Newton and Texas A&M’s Johnny Manziel. He loved their exploits but notes he’s never modeled his playing style after another signal-caller.
Despite compiling an eye-popping record of 44-2 over three years as a starter at Denton Ryan, Henigan was not heavily recruited by FBS programs. Former Memphis offensive coordinator Kevin Johns, though, made the kind of impression both Henigan and his family sought in choosing Seth’s college destination. “I had a good year as a junior,” notes Henigan, “but my body wasn’t spectacular. I was always smart and worked hard, and those attributes can take you a long way. Coaches weren’t really talking to me consistently, until coach Johns came after my junior year. He listed attributes of a good quarterback that I displayed and why I was attractive [to Memphis]. He’d show me film on FaceTime, break down plays. He’s the only [college] coach who did that with me. It was exciting, seeing how I’d fit the program here.”
Having enrolled for the spring semester in 2021, Henigan was comfortable with Memphis — both the city and campus — by the time fall camp opened. When the quarterback expected to start the ’21 season opener (Grant Gunnell) tore his Achilles heel late that summer, Henigan seized the opportunity. “Even if I was going to be the backup, I didn’t want to be a weak link,” reflects Henigan. “So I was mentally prepared. I have a whiteboard in my room at home. I’ve had it since my junior year of high school. Every week, I’ll change the name of the opponent, list base defenses, third-down defenses, and how we were going to attack them. I picked things up pretty quickly. That’s all I did that first spring camp: study that whiteboard and learn [as a college quarterback]. Coach Johns and I would throw on weekends at his house. He cared for me as a true freshman.” (Johns has since moved on and is now the offensive coordinator at Duke University.)
The Tigers went 6-6 in 2021 (Henigan’s freshman year) and qualified for the Hawaii Bowl, a game that was canceled the day before kickoff because of a Covid outbreak in the Hawaii program. Memphis went 7-6 last season and beat Utah State in the First Responder Bowl. Two decades ago, such marks would have qualified as successful seasons in these parts. But the program’s standards are higher. So are Seth Henigan’s.
“There’s no such thing as a young quarterback,” says Henigan in evaluating the midpoint of his college career. “You either have it or you don’t. You earn the job. It hasn’t been smooth sailing. We’ve beaten some good teams, but we’ve lost to teams we should have beaten. I didn’t really know what to expect out of college football; I just knew it would be harder than what I’d done in the past. I want to win a conference championship and win more than seven games. There’s so much more to achieve as a quarterback. My teammates respect me and know me as a competitor. I’ve taken hits and gotten up. I’ve been through the ringer, and I’ve stayed here in Memphis. We have a chance to be special.”
Tiger coach Ryan Silverfield would never project his program’s success on the play of one athlete. But he’s cognizant of how important Seth Henigan’s junior season will be to the health — and growth — of the Memphis program. “At the quarterback position, his steps are significant to the success of our entire program,” says the fourth-year coach. “He knows that he’s got to be better. He’s still young for the position, but he’s got experience. We have high expectations for him to make good decisions. You can’t turn the ball over. Find ways to win football games. We’ll continue to push him to be the leader of our team. He’s earned that respect and we’re excited to see what unfolds.”
Henigan is one of only 16 current Tigers who have taken the field for Memphis the last two seasons. He’s a junior, by class, but an extended veteran by measure of proportional service. Who will catch Henigan’s passes this fall? Junior Roc Taylor had 20 receptions last season, the most by any returning player. Senior Joseph Scates caught only 18 passes in 2022, but averaged 22.9 yards per reception. Newcomer Tauskie Dove — a transfer from Missouri — played in high school with Henigan but was a senior when the quarterback rode the bench as a freshman.
A healthy and successful 2023 season would make Henigan only the second quarterback in Memphis history to post three 3,000-yard seasons. (Brady White did so from 2018 to 2020.) Then there’s 2024. Should Henigan return as a grad student, a fourth season — again, presuming health — would likely shatter every passing record in the Tiger book. But that’s distant future, particularly with that pesky transfer portal. For now, Henigan is focused on the daily chores — as noted on his treasured whiteboard — that will add up to a better college season than his first two in blue and gray.
“Every day is challenging,” acknowledges Henigan, noting his commitment to football, school, his family, and nurturing relationships, particularly those with his teammates. “It’s hard to find time for myself. I have so many responsibilities. I’ve been on a fast track, starting my master’s program in the spring. A [conference] championship would make [this season] successful. Winning nine or 10 games. I think we have all the right guys. We’ve just got to stay consistent.”
The Basketball Hall of Fame will announce its 2023 class this weekend in Houston, part of the festivities at what is certainly the least likely Final Four in the sport’s history. Among the finalists for induction, Dirk Nowitzki and Dwyane Wade are first-ballot locks. And if Tony Parker and Pau Gasol don’t get in this year, they will be Hall of Famers soon.
I’ve got a question for you. On their best days as basketball players — or best months, or best season — were Parker and Gasol better than Anfernee Hardaway? Any living person who saw the three players in their primes would answer this question with a resounding … no. Yet Parker and Gasol will stroll into the Hall of Fame, while Hardaway has yet to even be named a finalist. It’s a glaring omission for basketball’s shrine to greatness, for Penny Hardaway should be a Hall of Famer.
Here we are, more than 15 years since the pride of Treadwell High School played his last NBA game (December 3, 2007) and Hardaway cannot be found among the greatest to play the sport he commanded for an all-too-brief professional career. And that’s the catch for Hardaway: However great he may have been, we’re tortured by the question of what he could have been, perhaps what he should have been with stronger knees. (Note: Hardaway played in more NBA games than Pete Maravich, and the Pistol was inducted without pause.)
There’s actually an advantage Hardaway holds as a former basketball great. His sport’s Hall of Fame has a significantly lower standard for induction than baseball’s Hall, and even lower than pro football’s. Unless your name is Sandy Koufax, a career abbreviated by injury eliminates you from consideration for Cooperstown. You have to have played ten seasons just to reach baseball’s ballot, and most inductees enjoyed careers of at least 15 years. As for football, Kurt Warner and Terrell Davis have been inducted, joining Gale Sayers among gridiron greats who starred brightly enough during brief careers to earn enshrinement.
Then there’s the hoop Hall. Here’s a look at four recent inductees to factor into the equation of Penny Hardaway’s qualifications:
• Maurice Cheeks (inducted in 2018) — Four-time All-Star. Never named to an All-NBA team. Played a supporting role (to Julius Erving and Moses Malone) on one of the greatest teams in NBA history, the 1982-83 Philadelphia 76ers. Played 15 years in the NBA.
• Sarunas Marciulionis (2014) — The face of Lithuanian basketball (particularly at the 1992 Olympics). Played seven seasons in the NBA. Never an All-Star.
• Jamaal Wilkes (2012) —Three-time All-Star. 1974-75 NBA Rookie of the Year. Played supporting role (to Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) for three L.A. Laker championship teams. Never named to an All-NBA team.
• Satch Sanders (2011) — Played supporting role (to Bill Russell and John Havlicek) for eight Boston Celtic championship teams. Never an All-Star and never named to an All-NBA team. Never averaged more than 12.6 points in a season.
Sorry, but these four players don’t so much as approximate the star power of Penny Hardaway in his professional prime. Let’s consider 50 games a “full” season for an NBA player. Penny played nine such seasons, so it’s not as though he went down after five or six no-look passes and a reverse dunk. He was named All-NBA three times, and twice first-team (after the 1994-95 and 1995-96 seasons). Consider his company on the 1996 All-NBA team: Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Karl Malone, and David Robinson (all members of the 1992 Olympic Dream Team). Hardaway was a four-time All-Star and averaged more than 20 points per game three times.
Let’s forget the stats and accolades, though. Basketball doesn’t have a significant counting number — 3,000 hits or 10,000 rushing yards — that introduces a player into discussions about Hall of Fame status. In nearly every case, it’s an eye test. Did the player do things on a basketball court we don’t see many (if any) others do? This is where Penny Hardaway’s creative, artistic case becomes lock-down secure. Beyond Michael Jordan or Magic Johnson, who can fill — to this day — a two-minute highlight reel like Hardaway? (Hardaway is on my Rushmore of basketball passers, along with Maravich, Magic, and Jason Kidd. He saw the court differently from others.)
Hardaway was the national high school player of the year (according to Parade magazine) in 1990. He was named first-team All-America as a junior at Memphis State in 1993. And he remains an unforgettable performer at basketball’s highest level, an Olympic gold medalist and a member of the only team to beat Jordan’s Chicago Bulls in the playoffs between 1991 and 1998 (the 1995 Orlando Magic). Get this: Every member of the 1996 U.S. Olympic team is a member of the Hall of Fame . . . except Penny Hardaway.
In 2018, SLAM magazine published an issue ranking the 100 greatest players of all time, and Hardaway checks in at 92. None of the Hall of Famers mentioned above made the cut. I’m convinced the Naismith selection committee will someday get this right. But make no mistake: the Basketball Hall of Fame is incomplete without Penny Hardaway.
The pinnacle of the Coach Penny Hardaway era at the University of Memphis — now four years and counting — was halftime of the Tigers’ NCAA tournament game against Gonzaga on March 19, 2022. Playing in the program’s first “March Madness” since 2014, Memphis led the country’s top-ranked team by 10 points, a spot in the Sweet 16 (for the first time since 2009) there for the taking. Alas, Tiger shooting went cold, the Zags rallied, and another season ended for the U of M and its considerable fan base.
Among the 10 players who played in that game for Memphis, seven have moved on. And here’s the twist to that reality: All seven could have returned for another season in blue and gray. Everyone knew star freshman Jalen Duren was “one and done” and he was chosen by Charlotte with the 13th pick in the NBA draft (then traded to Detroit). Josh Minott went to Minnesota in the second round and Lester Quinones also found his way to the pros (Golden State, as an undrafted free agent). But also gone, via transfer, are Landers Nolley, Tyler Harris, Earl Timberlake, and last year’s recruiting sensation, Emoni Bates. Those seven players would make a rotation all but certain to qualify for another Big Dance. Instead, Hardaway was left to build his fifth roster virtually from scratch.
Such is life with the transfer portal in modern college hoops. Hardaway pivoted quickly and lured the 2022 American Athletic Conference Player of the Year — point guard Kendric Davis — from SMU. Davis led the AAC with 19.4 points per game last season and will be playing for this third program in five years (he spent the 2018-19 season at TCU). Two other transfers — both guards — may well find themselves in Hardaway’s starting lineup for the season opener at Vanderbilt (November 7th): Keonte Kennedy (late of UTEP) and Elijah McCadden (Georgia Southern). Kennedy averaged 14.1 points and pulled down 6.1 rebounds per game last season for the Miners while McCadden’s numbers with the Eagles were 11.7 and 4.6, good enough for the Sun Belt’s Sixth Man honors.
“We’re an older group,” acknowledges McCadden (a fifth-year senior), “so we’re gelling. We know what we’re here to do. We want to win. We have one main goal, and not a lot of years to grow together. We’ll make the most of the short time we have.”
There will, in fact, be a few familiar faces in uniform for the Tigers. Guard Alex Lomax has spent a full decade — since middle school — playing for Hardaway and returns for a fifth college season. (Remember, players were granted a bonus year of eligibility when the pandemic restricted play in 2020-21.) Then there’s forward DeAndre Williams, back for a third season with the Tigers at the tender age of 26. Williams was second to Duren on last year’s team in both scoring (11.1 points per game) and rebounds (5.8). Expect both figures to grow this season for Williams, named (along with Davis) to the AAC’s preseason all-conference team.
“As a unit, they have to do more than play basketball,” says Hardaway. “They have to hang together off the court. Understand each other on all levels. That carries over. They have to develop an identity early: Who do we want to be? And live up to that identity every single night. I want it to be about toughness. And defense.”
Even with the roster turnover, the offseason was good to Hardaway. The program is finally out from under a three-year cloud, an NCAA-mandated agency (IARP) all but absolving Hardaway from wrongdoing in the recruiting of James Wiseman. So no suspension and no exclusion from upcoming NCAA tournaments (should the Tigers qualify). Then in October, the U of M announced a six-year contract extension that should keep Hardaway on the Memphis bench at least until 2028. Plenty of time for this city’s most famous basketball son to win his first conference title (the Tigers were picked to finish second, behind Houston) and get his alma mater back to the Sweet 16 or, dare it be dreamed, the Final Four.
“Remember the Cougars.” Last Friday’s fourth-quarter collapse against Houston could linger as a stench over the Memphis program the rest of this season, perhaps the rest of Ryan Silverfield’s tenure as head coach. Or it could become a rallying cry, of a sort, a reminder of how much can be gained, but the cost of a lapse. The Cougars are clearly better than their record (2-3) suggested at kickoff last week. It takes a very good team to lead the Cougars by 19 points in the final quarter. Memphis is that team. Memphis is also the team that coughed up that lead like a Bengal-sized hairball.
What Silverfield, his staff, and players must avoid is dismissing the collapse as water under the bridge. Because the Tiger fan base won’t. This program is at a crossroads, eager for bigger things (starting with the league in which it plays) but unable to get 30,000 fans into a stadium that seats more than 50,000. Silverfield must sell a better product than the one 28,000 fans saw on October 7th. I’m convinced he has a better product … unless that stench truly settles in.
Gabe’s Game. My stack of Memphis football media guides reveals no previous Tiger to have pulled off a trifecta like that of fifth-year senior Gabriel Rogers against Houston: a rush, pass, and reception of at least 15 yards each. A sad footnote to the fourth-quarter meltdown is that a Tiger victory would have likely been remembered as “the Gabriel Rogers game.” He was that extraordinary, particularly in tossing a 41-yard touchdown pass to Asa Martin (after receiving a lateral from quarterback Seth Henigan) to give the Tigers that 19-point lead (26-7) early in the final quarter.
Rogers leads the Tigers with 302 receiving yards (on 22 catches), and he put up 71 of those yards against the Cougars. He also gained 23 rushing yards on just two carries. He was that fabled “triple threat” of lore, only in a game his team gave away. But halfway through the 2022 campaign, the Tigers have a front-runner for the playmaker tag. Keep your eyes on number 9 when Memphis snaps the ball.
Recognizing a rival. A longtime problem for the Memphis program: No annual “rivalry game.” No, the Tigers and Ole Miss — or Mississippi State — aren’t rivals in the classic college football sense. (A series must be more competitive over a longer period of time.) The Tigers built up some rivalry with UCF and Houston, but both the Knights and Cougars are departing the American Athletic Conference for the Big 12 next year. In searching for a familiar foe that has tested Memphis for a couple of decades (or three), it’s the East Carolina Pirates. Motivation shouldn’t be a problem this Saturday in Greenville.
The Pirates and Tigers went back and forth last season at the Liberty Bowl, ECU prevailing in overtime, but only when Memphis failed on a two-point attempt to win. The Tigers trail the series, 16-8, primarily due to a dominant seven-year winning streak by East Carolina when the Memphis program found itself staggering for leadership (2006-2012). One of two Tiger teams will show up this weekend: One still reeling from the program’s worst collapse in memory, or a group mobilized to prove it’s not thatteam. East Carolina feels like the right opponent for such a clash.
It’s the first of September, and you know what that means — it’s 901 Day! And because of that, we’ve rounded up some special events to celebrate your Memphis pride on this very special day.
Some of Memphis’ most talented artists are taking the stage for this four-day music festival at Railgarten, featuring Star & Micey, Marcella & Her Lovers, Dead Soldiers, Lucky 7 Brass Band, Lord T & Eloise, Neighborhood Texture Jam, Devil Train, Cedric Burnside, and The Wilkin Sisters. Single-day tickets cost $15-$20. Arrow Creative will also be hosting its Marketplace in Motion at Railgarten, bringing the art shopping to you, September 1-3.
Choose901 will host its first 901 Day Party since the pandemic began, and the party will be poppin’. Memphis Made has brewed up a batch of special beers for the occasion, and Old Dominick Distillery will have cocktail stations. Guests can enjoy tasty bites from TACOnganas, StickEM, Central BBQ, and Mempops. Plus, Stax Music Academy, the Lucky 7 Brass Band, and DJs, Travi$, Breezye, and Shelby will provide live entertainment, and WeTightKnit, Amurica Photobooth, Mane Wilding, RotoBrothersArt, and Neighborhood Print Company will set up shop as vendors.
Grizz Nation is invited to FedExForum for an afternoon and evening celebrating the 901, with something for all ages. Throughout the event, attendees can enjoy fare from Dynamic Duo, El Mero, AD’s, and StickEM, plus local brews and more. There’ll be music by 8Ball & MJG, Big Boogie, Duke Deuce, Royal Studios House Band, and DJ Mic Tee; a Jookin’ Battle Championship; a Wrestlin’ Throwdown featuring Mads Krugger, The GunShow, and Dustin Starr; a kids zone complete with inflatables and face painters; and the Sneak Fest, which will have free sneaker cleaning and will give fans the opportunity to buy, sell, or trade for an exclusive pair of sneakers. This event is free.
The Edge District is has announced the launch of Rockwalk, a free event series that highlights local businesses and talents. Catch live performances by Amy LaVere, DJ RMZI, DJ Bizzle BlueBland, DJ Ayo Tunez, and DJ Alpha Whiskey, and check out the new businesses and restaurant specials in the area.
Overton Square will have live performances by 901 bands, including Raneem and Better in Color. Guests can also shop local 901 artisans, including 17Berkshire, Dave’s Bagels, The Tea Bar 901, and more.
Chimes Square, Overton Square, September 1, 6-9 p.m.
Enjoy inflatables, lawn games, food trucks, food and drink specials, and free beer for the first 50 guests. All flights, six-packs, and Arbo’s combos will be $9.01, and there will be yoga at 5:30 p.m. and two free brewery tours at 6 and 7 p.m. Plus, Tigers head football coach Ryan Silverfield will address the crowd at 6 p.m. and will be joined by head women’s basketball coach Katrina Merriweather and head baseball coach Kerrick Jackson. Members of the Memphis men’s basketball program are also scheduled to attend along with additional Memphis head coaches and staff members.
This free event will feature neighborhood booths, live music and performances, food, children’s activities and entertainment for all, and a friendly competition that will allow 901 neighborhoods to display their greatness. This year’s theme is “Neighborhoods Are Back.”
Celebrate K-901 Day with your dog and a few rounds of trivia at Hampline Brewing. There will be free dog treats and bonus prizes for the top teams with dogs.
You won’t want to miss the lights on the M-bridge this 901 as Mighty Lights plans to run Memphis content after sundown, including scrolling Memphis text, Grizz eyes, Tigers stripes, and more.
University of Memphis football coach Ryan Silverfield is tired of answering questions about the pandemic, the transfer portal, and NILs (name-image-likeness deals for student athletes). But here’s the thing: He’ll keep answering those questions, and with a smile on his face. Because that’s college football today. The case could be made that the sport has changed more since Silverfield took over the Tiger program — in December 2019 — than it did over the previous three decades. Recruiting is different (what kind of NIL possibilities exist?). Retaining players is a new challenge (that pesky portal). And graduating players? Keeping a standout running back for four (or five) seasons? You must be thinking of 2018.
“This is my 24th year of coaching,” notes Silverfield. “And the last three years have changed [the profession] dramatically. Not just for a head coach. The game has changed so much itself. That’s been what’s so dynamic. Who would have thought my first few months on the job would be the most normal? [Silverfield made his debut at the 2019 Cotton Bowl after his predecessor, Mike Norvell, departed for Florida State.] I couldn’t call [Alabama coach] Nick Saban up and ask how he dealt with a pandemic. I couldn’t call [LSU coach] Brian Kelly and ask how he handled the transfer portal in 1989. How did coaches deal with NIL in the late ’90s? We’re in a different, ever-changing game. When will we ever be able to just talk football? I don’t know if we’ll be on that trajectory anytime soon. Every coach is dealing with it.
“So the only constant is change. With a little bit of patience — as a man and a coach — I understand that every day something new will occur. You better adapt and adjust and get on the bus, or you’re going to get run over. We’re trying to stay ahead of it, to be proactive. And I believe we’re doing that here. The game’s hard enough. When you’re working 100 hours a week, to get frustrated does you no good. There’s a lot. Nobody’s going to feel sorry for a head coach who makes a good salary and gets to live his dream. But it’s changed.”
The 2021 Memphis Tigers, it can be said, broke even. They won six games and lost six. (Memphis hasn’t had a losing season since 2013.) They scored 30.1 points per game (a total that ranked 52nd among 130 FBS teams), and allowed 29.2. They were strong at home (5-2) but weak on the road (1-4). Most troubling, Memphis finished 3-5 in the American Athletic Conference, well short of a primary goal every season: winning the AAC championship. The Tigers qualified for a bowl game for the eighth season in a row (the Hawaii Bowl), but the game was canceled when their opponent (the University of Hawaii) had a Covid outbreak the day before kickoff. Silverfield’s second season as a head coach was decent, but he doesn’t hesitate in emphasizing Memphis football should be better.
“It starts with me,” says Silverfield. “I’ve got to be better. We were 3-0 after beating Mississippi State and up 21-0 on a UTSA team that went 12-2. We had a pair of injuries and our 18-year-old quarterback threw a pick-six. At that point, the kids looked up and felt there was a chink in the armor. We were never over-confident, but we must stay healthy. We had 47 guys out last season at some point. We played 27 freshmen and redshirt-freshmen. On paper, we’ve put together the best back-to-back recruiting classes in the program’s history, so that bodes well for the future.”
Silverfield acknowledges the most common factor in a good program going sour for a stretch of time. “We turned the ball over too much,” he notes. “We fumbled the ball inside the one-yard line against Temple. Then again on the 15. Two different running backs. We have to do a better job of establishing the run. We’ve been a rotational backfield, more so than I ever wanted. It will sort itself out through camp. Asa Martin has come on the last two seasons. Rodrigues Clark has shown some flashes but has to be more consistent. Brandon Thomas, when healthy and well, has been a force to be reckoned with. [Thomas led Memphis with 669 rushing yards last season.] Marquavius Weaver started against Navy [last year]. We need to have two or three we can rely on heavily. I don’t want to play six running backs. It’s a wide-open competition.”
Seth Henigan (Photo: Larry Kuzniewski)
One position the Tigers did not rotate a year ago is quarterback. When Arizona transfer Grant Gunnell was sidelined by injury shortly before the season opener, freshman Seth Henigan — merely nine months after his last high school game — took command of the Memphis offense. He completed 60 percent of his passes for 3,322 yards and tossed 25 touchdown passes (with eight interceptions). Silverfield is counting on an even better Henigan in 2022.
“What allowed Seth to play so well as a freshman are his maturity and intelligence,” says Silverfield. “He has a lot of tools. But he threw three pick-sixes and at times played like a true freshman. Part of that is growing pains, but we saw growth every single game. It may not have resulted in the best completion percentage, but in recognizing situations: ‘Did you see where that safety was?’ He’s got more comfort now. It’s not just studying the playbook. Grasp the offense, but grow in year two. He’s had a full offseason in the weight room, getting his body right.”
“I’ve gained 15 pounds since last season,” says Henigan. “That should help me withstand hits, stay in the pocket, and deliver strikes. And knowing I’m the starter … that’s a good feeling. Building chemistry, and not splitting reps [in practice]. The experience from last year will benefit me this season and in the long run. We have a lot of kids capable of having a breakout season. Our receiving corps is really deep; our offensive line is more experienced. We should be pretty dynamic, fun to watch.”
The Tigers’ biggest loss from a season ago is wideout Calvin Austin III. The speed demon will now split coverages for the Pittsburgh Steelers after being drafted in the fourth round of April’s NFL draft. But Silverfield likes the group of receivers Henigan will be targeting this fall. What they may lack when compared with Austin’s flaming speed, they make up for with collective size. “This is the most depth we’ve had at wide receiver since I’ve been at Memphis. Javon Ivory has shown production. People are expecting big things from Gabe Rogers.” Joe Scates (a transfer from Iowa State) will be in the mix, as will Eddie Lewis (four touchdowns last season). Sophomore Roc Taylor brings the kind of size (6’2”, 225 lbs.) that can punish defensive backs.
“The size [of our receivers] will stretch the field,” notes Silverfield. Caden Prieskorn should get the majority of snaps at tight end, and he checks in at 6’6”, 255 lbs. He’ll actually have a size advantage on some of the edge rushers Memphis faces.
In looking at the Tiger defense, let’s start with the secondary, where safety Quindell Johnson returns for what he hopes will be a third-straight all-conference season. (Motivation? Johnson was named second-team All-AAC each of the last two years.) Johnson’s 66 solo tackles were 17th in all of college football last season, but the numbers merely approximate his value to the Memphis cause.
“Quindell Johnson is the leader of our team,” says Silverfield. “The leader of our defense, certainly. Intelligent. Had the opportunity to go to the NFL, but decided to come back and compete. He cares, lives at the football complex. Could have transferred, but he stayed here. Loyal to the program. His family raised him right. Usually when I get a text from a parent, it’s negative. But his mom will text me just to say, ‘Hope your day is going all right. I know you have a lot on your plate.’ He’ll need to continue to make plays on the ball. Our new defensive scheme will suit him. He wants to win. It’s not just about improving his draft stock. Let’s win a championship. I admire that in him.”
Johnson relishes the chance to win a conference championship before his Tiger days are complete. (He graduated with a degree in business management last December and is now working toward a master’s degree.) “We have new guys, new coaching staff,” he notes, “and I’m just excited to see how it plays out. Playing football with the people I love.” Johnson refuses to name the teammates who will impact this year’s defense, insisting fans will need to “watch all of us.” Johnson’s offseason was spent building a more complete football player, as he puts it: “Getting faster, stronger, working on my technique, being a student of the game.”
And for those wondering why Johnson stayed despite alternatives, a program’s culture made the difference. “I’ve been so loyal,” emphasizes Johnson. “This program has given me nothing but love. I was in a situation where I didn’t need to leave. I’m somewhere I know I can play; I’m comfortable. The love the city’s given me … it’s unconditional.”
Johnson may be the most decorated, but the Tiger defense will have veterans at every level, with fifth-year seniors on the line (Wardalis Ducksworth), at linebacker (Xavier Cullens and Tyler Murray), and in the secondary (Rodney Owens). Even a sophomore like cornerback Greg Rubin — in 2020 a senior at White Station High School — brings experience, having started 11 games as a true freshman. “It’s maturity and confidence,” says Silverfield when asked how Rubin made an impact so quickly. “He’s shown an ability to work. Had the opportunity to go elsewhere, but stayed home and has found success.”
The Tigers will take the field for their opener at Mississippi State under the guidance of a new offensive coordinator (Tim Cramsey joins the program after four years at Marshall) and a new defensive coordinator (Matt Barnes arrives after three years at Ohio State). When asked for a connecting thread between the two hires, Silverfield says, “They’re great teachers.” Having interviewed seven candidates for each position, Silverfield chose men he feels can match his players when it comes to energy and passion.
“They’re dynamic,” says Silverfield. “They both bring energy, both have a chip on their shoulder. They have an underdog mentality and want to prove how good we can be, how great their units can be. When I interviewed [Barnes], he was getting all sweaty, uptight, jumpy. I said, ‘All right, this guy gets it.’ He wants to prove what he’s capable of.”
The Tigers will host seven games. (Photo: Larry Kuzniewski)
Silverfield sees the larger picture of college football’s shifting landscape. USC and UCLA are leaving the Pac-12 for the Big Ten, for crying out loud. We can erase the word geography from any equation measuring a program’s value for one “power conference” or another. The AAC is losing three of its top programs — UCF, Houston, and Cincinnati — after the 2022-23 academic year. Joining the AAC are programs that won’t exactly sell football tickets by themselves: UAB, Rice, UTSA, Charlotte, North Texas, and FAU. (If it feels like the old Conference USA days, it should.)
“We want to be in the best conference for football,” says Silverfield. “Football is the driving force [of revenue for an athletic department]. It’s ever-changing. We’re doing things the right way, with some of the best facilities in the country. We’re pouring money into [significant] renovations of Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium. Back-to-back years, we’ve had the highest graduation rate of any football program in our conference. All those things will put us on display, and we’ll see what the future entails. We want to play at the highest level we can.”
Before Seth Henigan was born, a 6-6 season may have been welcomed in these parts. But Memphis football has new standards now, and the sophomore quarterback is here to meet them. “I’m trying to get us back at least to the top of the AAC,” says Henigan. “The standard at Memphis is a level of excellence, grit, grind, and all that stuff. We work really hard, but we need to prove it on Saturdays. Nobody really cares if we don’t win on Saturdays.”
Ahhh. Now this feels like March. Thursday in Portland, the Memphis Tigers will play Boise State in the first round of the NCAA tournament. The game will take place just shy of eight years since Memphis last played in the Big Dance (a second-round loss to Virginia on March 23, 2014). It’s hard to imagine in these parts, but there are Memphis high-school kids with virtually no memory of the Tigers playing in college basketball’s showcase. After all, it was two American presidents and a pandemic ago.
In this season’s spirit of renewal, a few not-so-random thoughts on the Tigers’ return to Madness:
• Just how long was the Tigers’ seven-year drought without a dance card? You have to go all the way back to 1972 to find such a dry period. Then Memphis State, the Tigers did not qualify for the NCAA tournament for 10 years, from 1963 through 1972. In 1972, though, only 25 teams qualified for the tournament. Without a conference championship, a program had little chance of competing for the big prize. Today, it’s a 68-team field. As many as six or seven teams from hoops-rich conferences like the ACC, SEC, or Big 10 make the field. There was no tournament in 2020 as the pandemic took hold, but the Tigers’ seven-year absence from this event is just about as long as we can take.
• It’s been even longer — 13 years — since the Tigers advanced to the tournament’s second weekend, the Sweet 16. Memphis won at least two tournament games four straight years, from 2006 to 2009, reaching the regional finals (“Elite Eight”) three times (2006-08), and the 2008 championship, where the Tigers lost to Kansas in overtime. The program enjoyed a similar four-year run from 1982-85 (the Keith Lee years), reaching the Sweet 16 each season and the Final Four in ’85, where they lost to Villanova in the national semifinals.
• Penny Hardaway is the ninth coach to lead Memphis to the NCAA tournament. He appeared as a player in the 1992 and ’93 tournaments, helping the Tigers reach the Elite Eight as a sophomore. No Memphis coach made it to the Big Dance in his first season at the helm. It took Penny four.
• Larry Kenon scored 34 points in the first round of the 1973 tournament, setting a single-game Memphis record that stood for 36 years. Roburt Sallie — hardly a name that rolls off the tongue of Tiger fans — found his range in the opening game of the 2009 tournament and scored 35 points to establish a new standard.
• The Tigers will be led by a point guard who grew up in Memphis and wears number 10 on his jersey. For fans with some mileage on their tires, this should look familiar. Andre Turner led the Tigers to the NCAA tournament four consecutive years (1983-86), hit a game-winning shot on their way to the 1985 Final Four, and established a career assists record (763) that will never be broken. If Alex Lomax conjures the Little General this month, their could be a lot to celebrate.
• How unique was freshman Jalen Duren’s 21-point, 20-rebound performance in the quarterfinals of the American Athletic Conference tournament? In four full seasons as a Tiger, the great Keith Lee never had a 20-20 game. Ronnie Robinson had three in three seasons. Larry Kenon remarkably had seven 20-20 games in his only college season, helping the Tigers reach the 1973 Final Four. Enjoy Duren in the Big Dance. He’ll be dunking lobs in the NBA a year from now.
Sunday at FedExForum felt like big-time college basketball. Jim Nantz and Bill Raftery were courtside to describe the Memphis-Houston game for a national television audience, the same CBS tandem we’ll see for the national championship on April 4th. The 14th-ranked Cougars stormed out of the visitors’ locker room, eager to avenge their only home loss of the season (to the Memphis Tigers on February 12th). Best of all, the arena was near capacity, fans almost entirely dressed in white, cheers raining down from the upper deck. It felt a lot like 2009, or at least a lot like 2019.
The Tigers won the game, and it was never close. Said senior guard Alex Lomax after his team had secured a program-record 13th win in the American Athletic Conference, “The crowd is like a sixth man, and some teams can’t handle it.” A Memphis team that would have been described as maligned — at best — a dozen games ago, completed its regular season with a record of 19-9, having won 10 of its last 11 contests. Regardless of what happens at this week’s AAC tournament in Fort Worth, Memphis should end an eight-year drought with a return to the NCAA tournament, where big-time college basketball is played for three glorious weekends.
“I feel blessed,” said Memphis coach Penny Hardaway, a man who appeared in the NCAA tournament twice as a Tiger player but seeks his first dance ticket in his fourth year at the helm of the program. “To showcase who we are against one of the best teams in the country, to the entire nation … It’s a great day to be a Tiger. The guys came together at the right time. I call it spiritual momentum. An understanding of where we want to be, leaving egos at the door, and the entire building coming together as one.”
With the postseason here, the Tigers’ first order of business is the AAC tourney, where they’ll open with a quarterfinal game Friday night. The Tigers have only reached the AAC final once (they lost in 2016), and they’ll likely have to face nemesis SMU in the semifinals. But the two wins over Houston and the upset of 6th-ranked Alabama in December should be enough for Memphis to play on even if it comes up short in Texas.
Three proverbial “intangibles” to consider for a lengthy Tiger march toward glory:
• Health. Landers Nolley, DeAndre Williams, Jalen Duren, and Alex Lomax each missed multiple games with injuries this season. All four players are now healthy, and the same goes for the other five members of Hardaway’s rotation. It’s no coincidence that winning ways were discovered when players emerged from the trainer’s room. Nolley himself has said, “it’s on us” if the Tigers fall short this month. No excuses, least of all injuries.
• Experience. The Tigers have no NCAA tournament experience, but this is a veteran bunch. Lomax and Harris are playing as seniors and Williams is 25 years old, for crying out loud. (For some perspective, Williams is three years older than Ja Morant.) Junior guard Lester Quinones has started 76 games in a Tiger uniform. Perhaps most significantly, each of these players knows how hard it is to reach the NCAA tournament. Nary a minute of playing time will be taken for granted, should Memphis make the field of 68. And pressure? These young men have spent their college days trying to live up to Memphis Tigers history (including that of their head coach), and under pandemic conditions. The lights will not be too bright for them.
• Confidence. Lomax, Harris, and Nolley appeared together for the postgame press conference after Sunday’s win over the Cougars. And what sticks with me from their appearance are the smiles. The levity. The joy from finishing the regular season on a high, and all the hopes for postseason success that kind of high delivers. There’s so much yet to gain for the University of Memphis program in 2022, but there’s also some big-time college basketball yet to be played.
