If the Bluff City had an Athlete of the Year for 2024, it was University of Memphis quarterback Seth Henigan. The senior piled up records like a greedy 5-year-old under the Christmas tree. Henigan became the first Tiger signal-caller to toss 100 touchdown passes (104) and climbed to 13th on the FBS career passing-yardage chart (14,266). Best of all, he led Memphis to an 11-2 record, a third straight postseason victory (over West Virginia in the Frisco Bowl), and finished his career with 34 wins, a mark no future Tiger quarterback is likely to match. Add the heroics of running back Mario Anderson Jr. — 1,362 rushing yards and 21 touchdowns — and Memphis is all but certain to finish in the AP Top 25 for only the fourth time in program history.
The Tigers’ gridiron success made for some late-year balance to an otherwise disappointing 12 months in Memphis sports. Ravaged by injuries (and a lengthy suspension for star guard Ja Morant), the Memphis Grizzlies missed the NBA playoffs for the first time in three years. The only silver lining: A miserable record (27-55) earned the Grizz the ninth selection in the draft, a pick they used to acquire towering center Zach Edey, the two-time national college player of the year at Purdue. As 2025 approaches, Memphis is near the top of the Western Conference standings. Let’s call 2024 a hibernation year in Grizzlies history.
College basketball was no less disappointing. Coach Penny Hardaway’s Tigers roared to a 15-2 start, climbing to a ranking of 10th in the country … only to bumble their way through their American Athletic Conference schedule, finishing with a mark of 22-10 and missing out on the NCAA tournament. David Jones won the AAC scoring title in his only season in blue and gray, but an 11-7 record in that league doesn’t impress come March.
On the diamond, slugging first baseman Luken Baker starred for the Redbirds, leading the International League in home runs a second straight season despite a late-summer promotion to the St. Louis Cardinals. Baseball America’s Pitcher of the Year, Quinn Mathews, finished his season with Memphis, tossing his 200th strikeout of the season — a minor-league rarity — in a Redbirds uniform. Look for Mathews to anchor the 2025 rotation (until the Cardinals decide he’s needed in St. Louis).
Memphis said goodbye to our USL Championship soccer club, 901 FC. Without a soccer-only stadium in the plans, the franchise is moving to Santa Barbara, California, after six up-and-down seasons at AutoZone Park. For the sports historians, 901 FC put up an overall record of 76 wins, 62 losses, and 45 draws.
Hideki Matsuyama won the 2024 FedEx St. Jude Championship (FESJC) at TPC Southwind, this being the third year Memphis has hosted the opening tournament of the FedEx Cup playoffs. Along with the Southern Heritage Classic and the AutoZone Liberty Bowl, the FESJC is an annual reminder that Memphis can put on a show like few other cities in the world of sports. Let the 2025 games begin.
So, like, apparently, 2025 is around the corner. Around the corner of what? From what? That’s just semantics. And at the Flyer, we’re basically already in 2025. That’s just how our deadlines are — always working a week ahead, or maybe two days ahead. Because of that, we can see into the future. Not really, but here are some of our predictions/expectations/hopes for the new year in Memphis.
In the Headlines
Police Reforms
It’s easy to predict that reforms for the Memphis Police Department (MPD) will dominate headlines at least in the early part of 2025.
The U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) blistering review of the agency said police here used excessive force (which included tons of Tasers and pepper spray), discriminated against Black residents, and used harsh tactics against children. The review came after the beating death of Tyre Nichols at the hands of MPD officers in 2023.
The DOJ wants to enter into a consent decree with the city. This would install federal monitors to watch and make sure reforms are moving ahead. But, so far, local leaders, including Memphis Mayor Paul Young, have said they don’t want the monitors for various reasons, including the fact that consent decrees cost too much money.
Young has promised to reform MPD in-house. Criminal justice reform advocates say they want the DOJ oversight because the police should not police themselves.
The need for reform comes, too, as the city prepares to pay what could be a $500-million verdict in the civil suit to the family of Nichols’ for his death.
Photo: Frank Gaertner | Dreamstime.com
Cannabis Fight
Cannabis will certainly be in Tennessee news in 2025.
Rules that would ban smokeable products containing THCA were issued from the Tennessee Department of Agriculture (TDA) in January 2024. Industry leaders fought the rules all last year. A lawsuit on the matter was pending as of press time.
TDA says THCA goes over the legal THC limit when it’s burned or smoked. This gets consumers high, which is why a lot of conservatives don’t want “intoxicating” cannabis products. Their ability to get consumers high is why the industry says these products — allowed by laws passed by the legislature — are so popular and are a major portion of their business.
Those industry leaders complained that bureaucrats, not elected officials, made the new rules. So expect legislation from the Tennessee General Assembly when they reconvene in January 2025.
Pissed About Reappraisals
Also, expect your property taxes to go up — maybe way up.
January will bring a new property tax appraisal in Shelby County. And Shelby County Property Assessor Melvin Burgess began warning locals about this in 2024, maybe to try to get folks used to the idea.
In an August news release, Burgess said data showed property values increasing. That will likely mean a “significant increase in tax assessments” for homeowners. And that means higher taxes.
Add higher assessments to the Memphis City Council’s new 49-cent property tax rate hike approved in 2024, and it could mean outrage when those tax bills hit mailboxes.
Photo: Ford Co.
BlueOval City
More concern and hand-wringing is likely on deck for Ford’s BlueOval City project next year.
Expectations were high when Ford unveiled the project in 2021. The $5.6 billion manufacturing facility in Tennessee was the largest investment in the state’s history. Since then crews have been hard at work raising the massive plant on six square miles of West Tennessee about an hour from Memphis.
However, global electric vehicle (EV) demand softened. While the automaker planned to begin production of its all-electric Ford Lightning truck here next year, it pushed production back to 2027. In that time, the company awaits lower-cost battery technology and a higher demand for EVs in general. In that time, too, worries will persist about the future of Ford in West Tennessee. Still, the company did pull Santa behind a Lightning in the recent Brownsville Christmas parade. — Toby Sells
MATA
2024 will be remembered as the year in which conversation regarding transit consistently found its way to the forefront. And Memphis Area Transit Authority (MATA) has faced a tumultuous year — from the revelation of the $60 million deficit that the agency had been operating under, to the route and staff cuts, to the entire board’s dismissal.
The new board decided to pause proposed changes until February 2025. While this temporarily stalled one problem, questions over MATA’s future and leadership prevail.
On Tuesday, December 17th, the MATA board voted to continue negotiating a contract that could lead to temporary leadership changes. If approved, TransPro employees would take over as interim CEO, CFO, and COO for eight months. The proposal prompted several questions from board members, but they voted to form a committee to gain more clarity.
Looking ahead, the board will need to address the February 2025 changes which could lead to service cuts and layoffs. The agency will also need to identify more funding sources, while potentially welcoming a new team of leadership. — Kailynn Johnson
Political Forecast
The coming year happens to be the one year out of every four-year cycle in which there are no major elections scheduled in Memphis/Shelby County. But that is not to suggest that there will not be intense political activity. In fact, potential candidates for the county, state, and federal offices in the elections of 2026 will be working feverishly during the year to organize and declare their campaigns. At stake will be contests for Shelby County mayor, to succeed the term-limited Mayor Lee Harris, and for the 13 members of the county commission, as well as races for governor, the state legislature, Congress, and the U.S. Senate seat now held by incumbent Republican Bill Hagerty.
Announcements of candidacies for these offices should be forthcoming early in 2025.
There will be one more major attempt by Governor Bill Lee and his allies in the Republican legislative supermajority to pass comprehensive school voucher legislation when the Tennessee General Assembly reconvenes in January. Preliminary estimates are that this time the measure to extend taxpayer-funded private school stipends statewide has good chances for passage. Also to be expected are further efforts by GOP members to impose stricter controls (or more severe usurpations) on the law enforcement infrastructure of Shelby County. It remains to be seen if GOP state Senator Brent Taylor gains any traction in his effort to seek legislative removal of Shelby County DA Steve Mulroy.
Both major political parties in Shelby County will be selecting new chairs, the Republicans in January, the Democrats in April. State GOP chair Scott Golden of Jackson was reelected in December, but Democrats will be choosing a new leader in January to succeed Hendrell Remus. One of the major candidates is state Representative Gloria Johnson of Knoxville, who ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate in November.
The Shelby County Commission will face the new year not only with some last-minute updates in its funding priorities, but with a stepped-up formula for establishing a budget and meting out allocations. In an effort to adhere to previous commitments to build two new schools for Memphis-Shelby County Schools, Mayor Harris and the commission will be seeking means to compensate for lower than anticipated revenue aid from the state government.
Both local governments may come in for support and new modes for inter-governmental cooperation through the aegis of a newly formed and privately endowed ad hoc organization called More for Memphis. But the mechanics and prospects for such an arrangement remain obscure, for the moment. — Jackson Baker
Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant (12) dunks the ball. (Photo: Wes Hale)
On the Roster
One year without playoff basketball for our Memphis Grizzlies is quite enough, thank you. A trio of healthy star guards (Ja Morant, Desmond Bane, Marcus Smart) and the addition of a towering rookie center (Zach Edey) have the Grizzlies near the top of the NBA’s Western Conference standings. Better yet, the Grizz are among the top scoring teams in the Association, averaging more than 120 points per game. Where might this take a franchise that’s reached the conference finals only once in three decades? Go back to that word: healthy.
Morant only played in nine games a season ago (he served a lengthy suspension before his shoulder injury). Smart only played in 20. Bane barely played half the season (42 games). The end result was a 27-55 campaign. Morant is an All-NBA talent, Smart a former Defensive Player of the Year, and Bane an All-Star-to-be. If they stay on the floor through April, Memphis could well reverse that 2023-24 record and earn a top-four seed for the postseason. Can the West be won? Five different teams have gone to the Finals out of the Western Conference the last five seasons. There’s no current behemoth that would be considered unbeatable in May. The NBA Finals at FedExForum? Let’s believe.
At the college level, coach Penny Hardaway’s Memphis Tigers captured attention in November with an upset of Connecticut — the two-time defending national champions — at the Maui Invitational, bringing enough attention to climb into the Top 25 (16th) before an upset at home to Arkansas State. Is this another fall tease like the 2023-24 season, the Tigers setting up an immense fan base for a middling conference schedule? The answer is in the hands of two more star guards: transfers PJ Haggerty and Tyrese Hunter. A pair of glass-cleaning rim protectors — Dain Dainja and Moussa Cissé — give Memphis something it didn’t have a year ago, suggesting a repeat of the winter blues may be unlikely. A December upset of Clemson on the road and a less-than-intimidating American Athletic Conference are positive signs for a return to the NCAA tournament.
There will be life after basketball season for Memphis sports. Baseball America’s Minor League Pitcher of the Year, Quinn Mathews, will likely start the 2025 season with the Memphis Redbirds. Another pair of rising stars — pitcher Tink Hence and infielder JJ Wetherholt — have AutoZone Park in their sights. The Redbirds hope to end a postseason drought that dates back to 2018. The club will open the season with an exhibition against the parent St. Louis Cardinals on March 24th.
On the gridiron, the Memphis Tigers will enter their 2025 season on a pair of impressive streaks. The program has reached bowl eligibility 11 consecutive seasons and has scored at least 20 points in 40 consecutive games, tops in the country. Antwann Hill, the highest-ranked quarterback ever signed by Memphis, will don blue and gray for the first time and hope to replicate the success enjoyed by the departed record-setting Seth Henigan. One nugget Hill could grab that Henigan didn’t: a conference championship. — Frank Murtaugh
Mickey 17
Coming Soon
It’s not so much that 2025 is getting off to a slow start as 2024 finished strong. Christmas week brought a torrent of new releases beyond the usual awards season crush. So you can spend your first week of dry January catching up with titles like Disney’s Mufasa: The Lion King, directed by Moonlight’s Barry Jenkins; the Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown, starring Timothée Chalamet and directed by Walk The Line’s James Mangold; and Babygirl, an erotic thriller starring Nicole Kidman. I will never understand the decision to release Robert Egger’s vampire creepfest Nosferatu on Christmas instead of two weeks before Halloween, but you should probably see it if you’re into that kind of thing.
It’s not until January 10th that we get our first new releases of the new year, and that’s Den of Thieves 2: Pantera starring Gerard Butler and O’Shea Jackson Jr. The next week things start to pick up again with Wolf Man, a Blumhouse horror reboot of the lupine Universal monster. One of Them Days is a buddy comedy with Keke Palmer and SZA, which sounds promising. The month closes out with comedy: You’re Cordially Invited starring Will Ferrell, Reese Witherspoon, and an alligator.
In February, somebody learned the lesson about seasonal programming and scheduled Love Hurts for the week before Valentine’s Day. It’s an action comedy starring Ke Huy Quan and Ariana DeBose. On the holiday proper, we’ve got Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy and Captain America: Brave New World, a combo which is sure to provoke many lovers’ quarrels over Valentine date night viewing. Then there’s The Monkey from Osgood Perkins, so that’ll be weird/scary. The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie is a sci-fi Bugs Bunny feature aimed directly at me. Paul W. S. Anderson adapts George R.R. Martin’s In the Lost Lands.
March comes in with Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan’s dip into horror, Sinners, and the Zambian black comedy On Becoming a Guinea Fowl. March 14th is a showdown between Steven Soderbergh’s techno thriller Black Bag and Avengers maestros Russo brothers’ The Electric State. Disney’s live action Snow White boasts a screenplay by Greta Gerwig and stars Rachel Zegler as the drowsy protagonist.
In April, many of you will be dragged to A Minecraft Movie. I am eagerly awaiting Bong Joon-ho’s Mickey 17, starring Robert Pattinson as a disposable space hero. Blockbuster season starts in May with Marvel’s first swing of the year, Thunderbolts. The ever-creative Michel Gondry’s first musical, Golden, bows on May 9th, and the millennials’ favorite ambient horror franchise Final Destination: Bloodlines follows on the 16th. The 23rd looks to be a showdown between Tom Cruise’s Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning and Disney’s Lilo & Stitch reboot. June’s looking stacked with a John Wick spin-off Ballerina, Pixar’s Elio, the How to Train Your Dragon reboot, and the long awaited zombie capper 28 Years Later. July’s got James Gunn’s Superman, a new Jurassic World film for some reason, and The Smurfs Movie. August closes out the summer with Freakier Friday and the Paul Thomas Anderson crimer One Battle After Another, starring Leonardo DiCaprio.
October brings Tron: Ares, but besides The Black Phone 2, looks pretty slim on horror. In November, we come back after the intermission with Wicked: For Good, and Edgar Wright’s adaptation of Stephen King’s The Running Man. December will be dominated by Avatar: Fire and Ash. Never bet against James Cameron. — Chris McCoy
Yo-Yo Ma (Photo: Courtesy MSO)
Live Music, Ho!
A multitude of ways to ring in the new with live bands await you on New Year’s Eve. Growlers will host Blacklist Union, Line So Thin, and Josey Scott, erstwhile lead singer for Saliva who won acclaim as a solo artist with “Hero” from the Tobey Maguire-led Spider-Man. For something completely different, crooner Gary Johns will serenade Beauty Shop patrons that night, while Bar DKDC sports another incredible singer, Jesse James Davis, from big beats to ballads, not to mention the dance-inducing bounce of Bodywerk. For some Beale bounce and soul, aside from the street party, Eric Gales tops the Rum Boogie bill and the B.B. King All Stars shine at their namesake club. Or tribute bands can bring yesteryear alive, with Louder Than Bombs’ Smiths sounds at B-Side, or Play Some Skynyrd and Aquanet at Lafayette’s Music Room. Prefer freshly spun wax? That’s it’s own kind of live. Try DJ Funktual at Eight & Sand.
Once January is underway, our musical arts institutions resume their 2024-25 seasons. The Iris Collective will present the New York-based Overlook Quartet in The Green Room at Crosstown Arts on January 16th, showcasing music’s healing powers through meditative practice. On the edgier tip, Iris’ March 8th concert at Germantown United Methodist Church, with guest violinist Elena Urioste spotlights works by Max Richter, Astor Piazzolla, and Dmitri Shostakovich. Meanwhile, Germantown Performing Arts Center will present the groovier side of innovation with bassist-composer Meshell Ndegeocello’s show, No More Water: The Gospel of James Baldwin, on January 11th. And Opera Memphis brings Carmen in late January.
The Memphis Symphony Orchestra comes out swinging with its tribute to the “American Maestro,” Leonard Bernstein, on January 18th and 19th, in a program culminating with his Symphonic Dances from West Side Story. Another maestro will be celebrated a month later, when the MSO welcomes guest soloist Yo-Yo Ma February 25th at the Cannon Center of Performing Arts.
On the more rocking side of things, early January marks the 90th anniversary of the birth of Elvis Presley, and Graceland Live will honor it in style with shows spanning January 8th to 10th. Yet the venue has lately embraced some distinctly non-Presley-esque music as well, like the February 6th appearance by 21st-century rockers Theory of a Deadman (an Elvis reference?), experimenting with an unplugged approach to their heavy sound. The unplugged aesthetic will also be celebrated at the Halloran Centre’s Memphis Songwriters Series, with Mark Edgar Stuart welcoming Hannah Blaylock, Rice Drewry, and Raneem Imam on January 6th. Soon after, Sweet Honey in the Rock will bring the raw power of the human voice to the Halloran on January 24th. And speaking of powerful voices, Mary J. Blige will appear “For My Fans” — like some of us who saw her in 1995— at the FedExForum on February 2nd.
But what’s a mere human voice compared to The Man-Machine? Many are laser-focused on Kraftwerk taking over the Overton Park Shell on March 25th. For the Wo-Man-Machine, see the twin-goddess cyber-hybrid multimedia of Marcella Simien and Talibah Safiya at Crosstown Theater January 25th. For everything in between, scan our weekly After Dark listings to see the artists making it happen in our thriving smaller clubs every day. — Alex Greene
Let’s face it: The Olympics are must-watch television. (Photo: Yalcinsonat | Dreamstime.com)
I’m not a sports fan. Baseball gives me flashbacks to the parade of humiliations that was my Little League career. The constant squeaking sound of sneakers against the floor in basketball games drives me insane. I used to think I liked to watch college football, but in fact I just liked eating fried food with my friends on fall Saturdays. I can do that without the head trauma component. Soccer? Too snoozy. Hockey? Too icy. Golf? Please no.
But I do love the Olympics. The games certainly share many traits that turn me off to professional sports. The massive civic expenditures the host cities have to endure certainly resonates badly with me, a citizen of a city and state that are currently spending hundreds of millions of dollars renovating sports stadiums while we lack a functioning mass transit system. Paris’ leaders seem to have handled that conundrum better than most cities. Many of the stadia and venues are temporary; the only permanent new construction is an aquatics center. In the opening weekend, this fact has made for some spectacular television, like beach volleyball matches played in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower. The equestrian events take place on the grounds of the Palace of Versailles.
The opening ceremonies featured a memorable reference to one of Versailles’ former residents. I’m not sure what kind of opening ceremony I was expecting from the French, but a bloody Marie Antoinette holding her own head while singing a song from the French Revolution with the Gallic metal band Gojira playing on balconies over the Seine was not it. The opening ceremonies are always a mixed bag, at best. The producers have the daunting task of bringing everyone together while making everything seem monumental, and something’s got to give. Paris’ opening ceremonies may just have been the best ever. There was fire, parkour, fashion, art, and a Dionysian bacchanal in the streets of Paris. Instead of marching into the stadium en masse, the teams paraded down the Seine in a flotilla of boats. The only thing that didn’t go according to plan was the rain, which drenched hundreds of dancers along the riverbanks and chased away the crowd. But the driving rain also produced some indelible images, like a regal LeBron James holding the flag aloft at the bow of the American boat like George Washington crossing the Delaware River.
It was a rainy weekend in Memphis, so I was locked on the couch cramming as many events into my eyeballs as possible. For me, the weirder the sport, the better. I eschewed gymnastics prelims on the opening weekend in favor of rugby sevens. The French men’s team pulled off the upset of the games so far when they won gold in front of a hometown crowd, surviving a squad of swarming Fijians, who had, until Saturday, never lost a game in Olympic history.
For a professional appreciator of the moving image like myself, the Olympics are a quadrennial update on the state of the photographic arts. The modern games excel at producing beautiful images; the photo editor for The Atlantic reportedly sorted through 25,000 wire photos on Friday. This year, the best television has come not from Paris, but from 9,700 miles away in Tahiti. The surfing competition is being held there on a beach known as Teahupo’o, which translates to “wall of skulls.” With competitors riding 50-foot waves breaking onto a razor-sharp coral reef, it may be the most dangerous event in Olympic history, but it’s super relaxing to watch.
The camaraderie of the surfers having the rides of their lives while incidentally also competing for gold is the best example of the Olympic spirit. Gathering all of humanity together to see who can run the fastest and jump the highest may seem quaint in our troubled world. But three wars raging across the globe makes the traditional Olympic truce seem like a pretty good idea. The most moving example of peak human performance came from Celine Dion. After being sidelined from the stage for four years due to a rare neurological condition, she closed out the opening ceremony by slaying at a planetary level with Edith Piaf’s “Hymne a l’Amour.” As her fellow NBC broadcasters sat dumfounded, Kelly Clarkson, herself an accomplished singer, struggled through tears to find words for what we had witnessed. It was the most authentic emotion I’ve seen on TV in a long, long time.
Something is rotten in the state of St. Louis Cardinals baseball. The Memphis Redbirds’ parent club finished in last place in 2023, the first time in 33 years the proud franchise took on the scent of a cellar. Following some significant changes to the club’s starting pitching rotation, hopes were elevated for a better 2024, only to see the team open the season as though its collective wings had been clipped. There were injuries (three outfielders opened the season on the injured list), scoring droughts (the Cards endured a 12-game stretch in which they scored more than three runs exactly once), and generally dreadful play from both veterans (Paul Goldschmidt) and rising “stars” (Nolan Gorman). As Memorial Day nears, is there hope for fun summer days at the ballpark?
Memphis is playing a role, as it has since 1998 when the Redbirds arrived, in efforts to cure the Cardinals’ ills. Last year’s star rookie — right fielder Jordan Walker — opened the season with St. Louis but returned for some Triple-A development when his batting average plummeted to .155 after 20 games. Likewise, the franchise’s third-ranked prospect — center fielder Victor Scott II — started the season in the Cardinals’ batting order, but only because of those injuries to outfielders Tommy Edman, Dylan Carlson, and Lars Nootbaar. Scott batted .085 in 20 games before getting his ticket to Memphis for a first taste of Triple-A pitching.
Scott stole an eye-popping 94 bases last year, a season he split between Class-A Peoria and Double-A Springfield. He knows speed will be his meal ticket, as evidenced by the frequent bunts you’ll see from the 23-year-old Georgia native. Through 23 games with Memphis, Scott has stolen eight bases (and only been caught once). But his on-base percentage of .271 is about 80 points shy of what he’ll need to crack the Cardinals’ everyday lineup. While Scott will likely spend the summer with Memphis, look for Walker — batting .318 in 17 games for the Redbirds — to soon reclaim his place in right field for the Cardinals.
• The Cardinals acquired infielder Cesar Prieto at last year’s trade deadline in a deal that sent pitcher Jack Flaherty to Baltimore. Through Sunday, Prieto was batting .340 for the Redbirds with 27 RBIs and 27 runs scored. With five (!) St. Louis regulars batting under .240 and the club near the bottom of the National League in scoring, you gotta figure Prieto might have a place with the big club in the near future. (Veteran infielder Brandon Crawford is hitting .097 in a reserve role for St. Louis.)
• The hottest pitching prospect in the Cardinals’ system is 21-year-old righty Tink Hence, currently occupying a spot in the rotation at Double-A Springfield. In his latest start last Saturday, Hence struck out nine in six innings in a win over Midland. Should Hence show signs of growth in the coming weeks, he could make his Triple-A debut with Memphis shortly after his 22nd birthday (August 6th). With four of their starters in their mid-30s, St. Louis desperately needs a young arm (or three) to emerge, ready to retire big-league batters.
• Keep an eye on Luken Baker’s home run total. The Redbirds’ first-baseman has slammed 11 dingers through Sunday, giving him 65 for his career with Memphis. Baker needs 10 more to surpass Nick Stavinoha’s record of 74 (a standard established in 2011).
• How quickly can a former Redbird impact the big club? If you like the modern WAR metric (a measure of a player’s overall impact, relative to an average player), the answer is less than two months. Rookie shortstop Masyn Winn — last year’s everyday shortstop with Memphis — is leading the Cardinals with 1.8 WAR. He also leads the club in stolen bases (7) and is near the top of the National League in defensive metrics for his position.
How will 2023 be remembered by Memphis sports buffs in, say, 2033? What will stick on the ever-growing timeline of games we play and cheer in the Bluff City?
Let’s start with the good stuff. The Memphis Grizzlies posted an impressive 51-31 record on their way to a second consecutive Southwest Division championship. (How about a banner or two at FedExForum? Let’s get this done.) Forward Jaren Jackson Jr. led the NBA in blocks for a second straight season and earned Defensive Player of the Year honors, only the second Memphis player to take home that prestigious piece of hardware.
On the college level, Penny Hardaway’s Tigers reached the NCAA tournament a second straight year and made some history on the way. In beating Houston to win the American Athletic Conference tournament, the Tigers earned their first victory over a team ranked number-one in the country. Guard Kendric Davis should stick on that timeline of memories having led the AAC in both scoring and assists in his lone season as a Tiger.
Kendric Davis led the AAC in scoring and assists. (Photo: Larry Kuzniewski)
Those who follow Memphis Redbirds baseball will remember 2023 for one of the top prospects in the sport, shortstop Masyn Winn. The speed demon with a cannon on his right shoulder set a franchise record with 99 runs scored before a late-season promotion to the St. Louis Cardinals. Then there was slugger Luken Baker. The big first baseman slammed 33 home runs and drove in 98 runs in only 84 games, figures so eye-popping that Baker was named International League MVP at season’s end, the first Redbird in franchise history to receive a league’s top honor.
Alas, none of those news items stole the national spotlight in the way Ja Morant managed … and it wasn’t the All-Star’s heroics on the hardwood. After a Grizzlies loss to the Nuggets in early March, Morant flashed a handgun on social media from a Denver nightclub. The images were disturbing enough to cost Morant the next nine games on the Memphis schedule.
Morant returned to action and put up 45 points in a playoff loss to the Lakers, a reminder of just how high his ceiling could be, but he fell back to Earth, and dramatically, when another gun-toting video surfaced shortly after the Grizzlies’ season ended in Los Angeles. After weeks of deliberation, NBA commissioner Adam Silver handed Morant a 25-game suspension, punishment that would delay the start of Morant’s fifth professional season until late December. Minus Morant and injured center Steven Adams, the Grizzlies went 6-19 over the course of the suspension. For Mid-South NBA fans, 2024 can’t get here soon enough.
Sports are unique in the way our favorite teams and athletes so directly impact a day’s mood. There are football fans in Memphis who gained from the return (after 38 years!) of the USFL’s Memphis Showboats. Affordable tickets to pro football — even in the heat of June — are mood-lifters, to say the least. Our soccer outfit, 901 FC, put together another playoff season in the USL Championship, even as attendance at AutoZone Park sagged from the heights of the club’s 2019 debut season. But a mood-lifter on game night for soccer buffs? Check.
All of this makes Morant’s off-court troubles the kind a fan base suffers most, because Morant the basketball player takes us places no other man in Grizzlies history has taken us. (Recall that Morant made second-team All-NBA before his 23rd birthday.) When poor decisions weigh down Morant the human being, it shifts the fan/athlete perspective into one centered more on compassion than any form of adrenaline-fueled elation.
Let’s remember 2023 for the victories we had, and we had a few. And let’s hope we remember 2023 for the year this town’s most famous athlete became a new kind of hero.
Frank Murtaugh is the managing editor of Memphis Magazine. He writes the columns “From My Seat” and “Tiger Blue” for the Flyer.
New year 2024 concept, beginning of success. Text 2024 written on asphalt road and male runner preparing for the new year. Concept of challenge or career path and change.
What do you mean it’s almost January? If you’re anything like us, the encroaching new year has really seemed to have come out of left field. The churning news cycle means that we’ve had our heads down covering the arts, a mayoral race, the Tennessee legislature, and everything in between. But despite a packed 2023, there are plenty more stories on the horizon. With 2024 just around the corner, our writers take a look at what we can expect in Memphis news next year.
Breaking News
Paul Young
Paul Young taking the mayor’s seat will be the Memphis news story to watch in 2024.
Memphis hasn’t had a new mayor for eight years; hasn’t done things differently for eight years — for good or bad. So, Memphians can expect new ideas, fresh faces, and new approaches to the city’s same-old problems (but maybe some new opportunities, too).
Paul Young (Photo: Paul Young for Memphis)
Some could argue too much emphasis is put on the mayor’s office, much like the president’s office. But that office is where the city’s business is done daily, from police and fire to trash collection and paving. Yes, these ideas are later shaped by the Memphis City Council and, yes, the mayor is expected to carry out rules formed entirely by the council. But all of that is executed (executive branch, get it?) by the mayor and his team.
Young has already named a few key staffers. Tannera Gibson will be his city attorney and Penelope Huston will be head of communications, according to The Daily Memphian. Young told the Memphian, too, that he’ll keep the controversial Cerelyn Davis as chief of the Memphis Police Department.
Memphis in May
This next year could be make or break for the Memphis in May International Festival (MIM).
It ended 2023 with a whimper. The nonprofit organization posted a record loss of $3.4 million and record-low attendance for Beale Street Music Festival. Also, its longtime leader Jim Holt announced his retirement.
MIM leaders put Music Fest on hiatus for 2024. It also moved the Championship Barbecue Cooking Competition to Liberty Park.
Meanwhile Forward Momentum and the Memphis River Parks Partnership (MRPP) announced a new three-day music festival at Tom Lee Park (called River Beat) and a new barbecue contest, both in May.
It’s unknown if these new events could supplant MIM. Speculation, though, has the future of the nonprofit in question. It’ll be worth watching.
Tennessee General Assembly
State lawmakers are hard to predict.
Last year, for example, one GOP member spent countless hours persuading his colleagues to add firing squads to the list of options for the state’s death row inmates. Another wanted to add “hanging by a tree” to that list.
However, one can easily predict Republicans will seek to make life harder for the LGBTQ community. One bill paused last year, for example, would allow county clerks to deny marriage rites to anyone they choose (wink, wink).
The little-known but hard-working Tennessee Medical Marijuana Commission may approach lawmakers next year with a plan to get a state system off the ground. Dead medical cannabis bills have become too many to count over the years. But the hope is that the group’s expertise after years of study may help tip the scales.
Easy bets are also on bills that mention “abortion” or “trans.” — Toby Sells
Politics
Oddly enough, the city’s incoming chief executive, Paul Young, remains something of an unknown despite his extensive exposure (and his consistently adept campaigning) during the long and trying mayoral race that concluded in October. Nor will the aggressive ballyhoo of his preliminary activities — parade, concert, and inaugural ball, no less! — have shed much light on his intentions in office, though his inaugural address will be highly anticipated in that regard.
Major changes may be in the offing, though so far the shape of them is not obvious. Young’s announced reappointment of police director C.J. Davis at year’s end may be an indication that, in the personnel sense, anyhow, there may well be a continuum of sorts with the administration of outgoing Mayor Strickland.
C.J. Davis (Photo: Memphis Police Department)
The newly elected council, meanwhile, is expected to be measurably more progressive-minded on various issues as a result of the election than was its predecessor.
A city task force already launched — GVIP (Group Violence Intervention Program), which involves an active interchange of sorts between governmental players and gang members (“intervenors,” as they are designated) in an effort to curb violence on the streets. It will be picking up steam as the year begins.
And follow-up readings will still be required in 2024 on an initiative sponsored by outgoing Councilman Martavius Jones and passed by the council conferring lifelong healthcare benefits on council members elected since 2015, upon their having completed two terms.
(News of that move prompted an astounded Facebook post from former Councilman Shea Flinn, who served back when first responders’ benefits had to be cut and a controversial pension for city employees with 12 years’ or more service was rescinded. Said Flinn: “Do I have this correct? Because I don’t want to be gassing up a flamethrower for nothing!”)
The Shelby County Commission, having worked in tandem with Mayor Lee Harris in the past year to secure serious funding for a new Regional One Health hospital, continues to be ambitious, hoping to acquire subpoena power from the state for the county’s recently created Civilian Law Enforcement Review Committee and to proceed with the construction of a long-contemplated Mental Health, Safety, and Justice Center.
The commission is also seeking guidance from the DA’s office on the long-festering matter of removing County Clerk Wanda Halbert from office.
At the state level, almost all attention during the early legislative session will be fixed on Republican Governor Bill Lee’s decision to push for statewide application of the school-voucher program that barely squeaked through the General Assembly in 2019 as a “pilot” program for Shelby and Davidson counties. (Hamilton County was later added.) The program was finally allowed by the state Supreme Court after being nixed at lower levels on constitutional grounds. Democrats are universally opposed to its expansion, as, for the record, are the school boards in Shelby County’s seven school districts. Prospects for passage may depend on how many GOP legislators (a seriously divided group in 2019) are inclined this time to let the governor have his way.
Also on tap will be a series of bills aimed at stiffening crime/control procedures, some of which may also try to roll back recent changes in Shelby County’s bail/bond practices.
Oh, and there will be both a presidential primary vote and an election for General Sessions Court clerk in March. — Jackson Baker
Music
No sooner does yuletide appear than it’s gone again in a wink, as we turn to face a new notch on life’s yardstick. Yet even before 2024 dawns, Memphis has great music brewing on this year’s penultimate day, December 30th, from the solo seasoned jug band repertoire of David Evans (Lamplighter Lounge) to the revved-up R&B-surf-crime jazz-rock of Impala (Bar DKDC) to Louder Than Bombs’ take on The Smiths (B-Side).
Ironically, DJ Devin Steele’s Kickback show at the Hi-Tone is keeping live music on the menu with a six-piece band alongside the wheels of Steele. Down on Beale Street, bass giant Leroy “Flic” Hodges and band will be at B.B. King’s, and the Blues City Café will feature solid blues from Earl “The Pearl” Banks and Blind Mississippi Morris.
Susan Marshall (Photo: Jamie Harmon)
While New Year’s Eve seems particularly DJ-heavy this December 31st, there are still some places to ring in the new year with a live band. Perhaps the most remarkable will be when three of the city’s most moving women in music — Susan Marshall, Cyrena Wages, and Marcella Simien ringing in midnight — converge at the freshly re-energized Mollie Fontaine Lounge. A more up-close, swinging time will be found at the Beauty Shop’s meal extravaganza set to the music of Joyce Cobb. Orion Hill’s Mardi Gras Masquerade will feature Cooper Union (with Brennan Villines and Alexis Grace), and Blind Mississippi Morris will hold court again at Blues City as a gigantic disco ball rises up a 50-foot tower outside on Beale. For that Midtown live vibe, Lafayette’s Music Room’s elaborate festivities will feature the band Aquanet.
For many Memphians, the new year will begin with a look backward as a smorgasbord of bands — from Nancy Apple to Michael Graber to Oakwalker and beyond — gather at B-Side to honor the late Townes van Zandt on January 1st. The revival of the 1970 musical Company, opening at the Orpheum the next day, also honors an earlier era’s muse, but its five Tony Awards suggest that even today it “strikes like a lightning bolt” (Variety). And the historical appreciations continue: On January 14th, Crosstown Arts’ MLK Freedom Celebration will feature the Mahogany Chamber Music Series, curated by Dr. Artina McCain and spotlighting Black and other underrepresented composers and performers; and on January 20th GPAC will host jazz trumpeter, vocalist, and composer Jumaane Smith’s Louis! Louis! Louis!, blending his own compositions with those of Louis Armstrong, Louis Prima, and Louis Jordan — three giants of the last century.
Who knows, maybe reflecting on all this past greatness will teach 2024 a thing or two? — Alex Greene
Coming Attractions in 2024
2023’s dual WGA and SAG strikes disrupted production, so 2024 should be an unpredictable year at the multiplex. Studios are currently engaged in a high-stakes game of chicken with the release calendar, so don’t take any of these dates as gospel. In January, an all-star apostle team led by LaKeith Stanfield and David Oyelowo tries to horn in on the messiah game in The Book of Clarence.
February has the endlessly promoted spy caper Argylle, a Charlie Kaufman-penned animated film Orion and the Dark, the intriguing-looking Lisa Frankenstein, and Bob Marley: One Love left over from 2023, as well as Ethan Coen’s lesbian road comedy Drive-Away Dolls.
March is stacked with Denis Villeneuve’s return to Arrakis, Dune: Part Two; Jack Black voicing Kung Fu Panda 4; Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire; and Focus Features’ satire The American Society of Magical Negroes.
Monsters will collide in Godzilla x Kong.
April starts with Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire and Alex Garland’s social sci-fi epic Civil War.
May features Ryan Gosling as The Fall Guy and Marisa Abela as Amy Winehouse in Back to Black. On April 24th, we have a three-flick pile-up with Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, The Garfield Movie (animated, thank God), and Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga. ALL HAIL IMPERATOR FURIOSA!
Anya Taylor-Joy in Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
June brings us Inside Out 2, which adds Maya Hawke as Anxiety to the Pixar classic’s cast of emotions. There’s another Bad Boys film on the schedule that nobody has bothered to title yet. Meanwhile, Kevin Costner goes too hard with punctuation with Horizon: An American Saga — Chapter One. (Chapter Two drops in August.)
In July, there’s the horror of Despicable Me 4 and Twisters, a sequel to the ’90s tornado thriller that lacked the guts to call itself Twister$. Ryan Reynolds returns as the Merc with a Mouth in Deadpool 3, the first Marvel offering of the year.
In August, Eli Roth adapts the hit game Borderlands, which, if you think about it, could actually work. James McAvoy stars in the Blumhouse screamer Speak No Evil. Don’t Breathe director Fede Álvarez directs Priscilla’s Cailee Spaeny in Alien: Romulus.
September is looking spare, but Tim Burton, Michael Keaton, and Winona Ryder are getting the band back together for Beetlejuice 2, so that could be fun.
October looks a tad more promising with Joker: Folie à Deux, a psychosexual (emphasis on the “psycho”) thriller with Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga. There’s also the cheerful Smile 2, evil clown porn Terrifier 3, and a Blumhouse production of Wolf Man.
November sees a remake of The Amateur, Barry Levinson’s mob thriller Alto Knights, Ridley Scott’s Gladiator 2 with Denzel Washington, and Wicked: Part One, led by Tony Award-winner Cynthia Erivo.
Then, the year goes out strong with Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrim, an anime Tolkien adaptation from Kenji Kamiyama.
This time next year, we’ll be gushing over Barry Jenkins’ Mufasa: The Lion King, Robert Eggers’ boundary-pushing Nosferatu remake, and an ultra-secret Jordan Peele joint. — Chris McCoy
Memphis Sports
Here’s a one-item wish list for Memphis sports in 2024: Ja Morant videos that are exclusively basketball highlights. The city’s preeminent athlete stole headlines this year with off-the-court drama that ultimately cost him the first 25 games of the Grizzlies’ 2023-24 season. Morant’s absence was more than the roster could take, particularly with center Steven Adams sidelined for the season with a knee injury. More than 10 games under .500 in mid-December, the Grizzlies must hope the star’s return can simply get them back to break-even basketball. If that happens — and with the rim-rattling displays that have made Ja a superstar — the new year will have brought new life to the Bluff City’s flagship sports franchise.
And how about a first regular-season American Athletic Conference championship for Penny Hardaway’s Memphis Tigers? The AAC is a watered-down version of the league we knew a year ago (no more Houston, no more Cincinnati), with Florida Atlantic now the Tigers’ primary obstacle for a league crown. A controversial loss to FAU in the opening round of the NCAA tournament last March created an instant rivalry, one that will take the floor at FedExForum on February 25th. David Jones is an early candidate for AAC Player of the Year and sidekick Jahvon Quinerly gives Hardaway the best collection of new-blood talent since “transfer portal” became a thing.
Seth Henigan (Photo: Wes Hale)
With Seth Henigan returning to quarterback the Tigers for a fourth season, Memphis football should also compete for an AAC title and an 11th consecutive bowl campaign. AutoZone Park will hum with Redbirds baseball and 901 FC soccer throughout the warm-weather months, and the PGA Tour will make Memphis home when the FedEx St. Jude Championship tees off on August 15th.
But let’s hope 2024, somehow, becomes the Year of Ja in this town. The heart of Memphis sports echoes the sound of a basketball dribble. And one player speeds that heartbeat like no other. — Frank Murtaugh
Oscar Jimenez will suit up for 901 FC next season. (Photo: Courtesy USL/Louisville City FC)
Meanwhile, 901 FC can look forward to welcoming some unfamiliar opponents to the confines of AutoZone Park next season. A restructured United Soccer League means Memphis will bid adieu to the Eastern Conference and kick off its 2024 season as part of the Western Conference. That means that 22 of 901 FC’s 34-match schedule will be against Western Conference opponents, starting with a March 9th home season opener against Las Vegas Lights FC. There’s a new COO in Jay Mims, while we can expect plenty of new players to suit up before Stephen Glass leads the team out for its first game.
One thing that soccer fans will not be looking forward to, however, is a new stadium, with plans for a soccer-specific Liberty Park arena scuppered after $350 million in state dollars earmarked for sporting renovations did not include any provisions for 901 FC. — Samuel X. Cicci
Sutton Smith rushed for 115 yards in the Tigers' win over Bethune-Cookman. (photo by Wes Hale)
The case could be made that the greatest day in the history of the Memphis Tiger football program was November 2, 2019. With ESPN’s College GameDay crew on Beale Street that morning, and the Liberty Bowl packed to its rim that night, the Tigers beat SMU, 54-48, on their way to an American Athletic Conference championship and a berth in the prestigious Cotton Bowl.
With memories of that night still alive in these parts, it was painful to learn last week that SMU — and not Memphis — will depart the AAC for the more renowned (and more lucrative) Atlantic Coast Conference. Already with this year’s departures (Cincinnati, Houston, and UCF), the AAC has become a collection of nerds in shoulder pads, without a date to the prom. Memphis is among those nerds, with what appears like less and less hope for a dance partner anytime soon.
Under this atmospheric gloom arrived the Tigers’ 2023 season Saturday night at what’s now called Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium. And on the opposite sideline to face the Tigers? Bethune-Cookman, an overmatched FCS opponent that couldn’t stir excitement beyond a tank of gas from the Wildcats’ campus in Daytona Beach. Memphis, as expected, dominated the glorified exhibition game. Final score: 56-14. Somehow, the Wildcats pulled off the play of the game, the first-quarter block/interception of a Seth Henigan pass by Amarie Jones that the lineman returned 69 yards for a touchdown. It was scintillating, even as it closed the Tiger lead to just three points (10-7). From that point, though, it was entirely Memphis. The Tigers racked up 551 yards of offense and held Bethune-Cookman to 91 (only 39 via pass).
Memphis players enjoyed some early season stat-padding. Junior quarterback Henigan completed 27 of 36 passes for 334 yards and a pair of touchdowns. (He also tossed two interceptions, including the Jones pick-six.) Sutton Smith ran for 115 yards on 18 carries and scored two touchdowns, complementing Blake Watson’s three-TD performance (75 yards on 10 carries). Eight different Tigers caught Henigan passes and eight different Tigers made at least two solo tackles on defense. It was the kind of game that accentuates hope for the 11 regular-season contests that remain. The kind of game that suggests these Tigers might be better than the six-loss teams of 2022 and 2021.
As I looked at the half-filled stadium, though, I kept thinking of SMU, and the 58,325 people who made that night in November 2019 unforgettable in the Mid-South. (It remains the largest home crowd to watch the Tigers play an opponent other than Ole Miss or Tennessee.) If anything, the 26,632 fans who purchased tickets for The Bethune-Cookman Game should be saluted for their devotion to the cause of Memphis football. It’s easy to fork over your cash for the kind of clash that attracts College GameDay. To watch the first meeting between Memphis and an FCS bunch from Florida’s east coast? That requires blue and gray in the blood.
The Tigers will hop a bus to Jonesboro later this week and face Arkansas State Saturday. (The Red Wolves aim to recover from a 73-0 undressing at Oklahoma.) Then comes a short week and a Thursday-night home tilt against Navy to open AAC play. Never have those AAC games felt more important to the Memphis program. Still on the outside of that dance hall, the Tigers simply must contend — annually — for a conference title, as long as they remain in a second-tier league like the AAC. There’s too much other football — the SEC is expanding — to distract the casual fan. It’s too easy to make one’s den the “GameDay” venue. Memphis enjoyed a convincing win to open an important season for its program. The hard truth: Every week this season will demand more convincing.
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.”
It was one of those rare plays you see on a baseball field that makes no impact in the box score . . . but remains unforgettable. On a Tuesday night in mid-April, the Memphis Redbirds were hosting the Indianapolis Indians at AutoZone Park. Playing second base for Memphis, Masyn Winn took a cutoff throw in short right field. An Indian base-runner was cruising home from third base, not so much as looking where the baseball might be. Winn turned and fired a heat-seeking spheroid to the catcher, who tagged the Indians’ runner . . . just after he touched home plate. The throw covered at least 140 feet, maybe 150. (For perspective, the distance from third base to first is 127 feet.) There was no “hump” in the throw. It arrived in the catcher’s mitt shoulder height, precisely where Winn released it. And it arrived there fast.
“A lot of guys aren’t running anymore,” notes Winn with a grin sly beyond his years. “Coaches don’t send them. [My arm] is what I’m known for. But sometimes it still catches guys by surprise. Most [infielders] would just eat that ball, but I thought I had a chance.”
Merely 21 years old and primarily a shortstop, Winn is the 48th-ranked prospect in his sport according to Baseball America. He’s building toward a future in the middle infield despite having a right arm that would be the envy of many players who occupy the pitcher’s mound. (Four years ago, as a junior at Kingwood High School in Texas, Winn posted a 13-0 record as a pitcher with a 0.67 ERA and 117 strikeouts in 76 innings.) He made headlines in the 2022 All-Star Futures Game by hitting 100 mph on the radar gun with a throw from shortstop to first base. That cannon of an arm, though, is a weapon that must be carefully utilized.
Winn first recognized his extraordinary arm strength at age 12 when he made a traveling national team. “Sophomore year in high school, I was throwing mid-90s,” he says. “I knew it was serious then. But I was a pitcher at the time, so didn’t really consider what I could do from short.” In Winn’s first full season as a pro (Class A in 2021), he made 24 errors in 98 games, most of them of the throwing variety. Accuracy, it seems, can improve with a reduction in velocity. Winn credits a longtime Cardinals instructor — newly elected to the franchise’s Hall of Fame — with helping him dial back the power of his right arm when it can benefit the team.
“Defensively, Jose Oquendo may be the best in the world,” says Winn. “He told me that I don’t have to show off my arm with every throw. I can go 80 or 85 percent and still make the play, then dial it up when I need to. Shortening up my motion and throwing like a shortstop [as opposed to a pitcher’s motion].”
At the plate, Winn is focused on making better contact, becoming a catalyst at the top of the Redbirds’ batting order. “I started off the year striking out a lot, so I’m trying to hit more balls on the barrel [of the bat],” he says. “It’s an approach thing. We’ve got sluggers like Jordan Walker, Luken Baker, and Moises Gomez. I’ll let them hit the bombs. I need to be more direct to the ball, get my singles, steal, get a double. Know my game.”
Winn is climbing toward a crowded middle infield with the St. Louis Cardinals. Paul DeJong has reclaimed the shortstop position after a rehab stint with Memphis. Tommy Edman (a Gold Glove winner at second base), Brendan Donovan (utility Gold Glove in 2022), and Nolan Gorman are also in the mix. “I’m gonna play a long time,” notes Winn. “I don’t need to rush anything. I’m enjoying every step. I can’t wait to be [in the big leagues], but I’m having a lot of fun. I get to play baseball.”
Rodrigo da Costa is Memphis' latest acquisition. (Credit: 901 FC/USL Championship)
Aaron Molloy warned them, to be fair. His first-half left-footed pile driver had thundered off the crossbar after some nifty footwork, but the Irishman was in no mood to show such mercy again. So when Molloy collected a layoff just outside the box in the 2nd half, it was no surprise that his shot found its way into the bottom corner to give Memphis a 2-1 victory over Tulsa. The 901 FC captain is leading by example, and the rest of his teammates are following suit. And that’s a good thing, since the last couple days have seen a sizable shake-up at the top of the pitch.
Early-season foibles aside, 901 FC have been humming along nicely under coach Stephen Glass. They haven’t quite yet achieved the stoutness of Ben Pirmann’s peak last season, with goalkeeper Bill Hamid having to make several crucial stops last Friday. But everything’s moving in the right direction, as evidenced by the team’s current seven-match unbeaten streak in the USL. A big part of that is the dynamic midfield duo of Molloy and Jeremy Kelly, who are helping Memphis control possession (an average of 55 percent-per-match so far this season) and frequently pop up in goal-scoring sequences. The two bossed Tulsa’s midfield last weekend, leading all players on the field with 63 and 60 completed passes, respectively.
And most crucially, Molloy scored the winner with his first goal of the season, while it was Kelly’s deflected shot that led to 18-year-old Nighte Pickering opening the scoring for Memphis. Pickering eased into action after he signed last season before breaking out with a debut bicycle kick goal, but his importance to the team is growing. In seven appearances, he has two goals and two assists, and already looks like he belongs among the rest of last season’s Eastern Conference semifinalists.
Memphis has gone goalscorer-by-committee, with plenty of players contributing to the attack. Luiz Fernando leads the way with four goals and two assists in nine appearances (evidence of his own growing influence on the team), while three players are sitting on two goals scored. That’s just as well, since last season’s top scorer Phillip Goodrum has been ice cold in league play since he accused Memphis of blocking his exit over the summer. But that’s immaterial now, as 901 FC announced Monday that Goodrum would be headed to Tulsa, in exchange for Rodrigo da Costa and an undisclosed transfer fee.
It’s a bit grating to see another high-caliber striker depart, but it just hadn’t been clicking for Goodrum in Memphis this season. But newcomer da Costa should provide yet another high-quality option for an attack that already boasts Laurent Kissiedou, Bruno Lapa, and Dylan Borczak, among others. The Brazilian debuted in USL in 2019, and since then has notched 36 goals and 25 assists. This season, he’s got three goals and one assists in nine appearances, and in terms of chances created, his 30 is second only to … that’s right, Molloy. da Costa can function as both a midfielder and an attacker, giving Glass another option to unleash as part of a fluid attack.
Memphis doesn’t play again until Saturday, June 3rd against Miami FC. That should give da Costa plenty of time to bed in and help Memphis move up from its 6th position in the Eastern Conference Standings.
