....for the Memphis job yesterday on local radio. First time I've heard him speak and have to say I was very impressed. I know most was your normal coach speak and Rah Rah stuff, but he handled that presser very well. Sounded better IMO than Silverfield or Norvell from previous times. He comes across as a guy you wouldn't mind at all watching over your kid. Of course he referenced President Scott, but what was interesting is he referenced and mentioned a name I hadn't heard in a long time.......Canon Smith. Former Olive Branch QB who bounced around several schools playing a little QB and finished at Memphis. I guess Canon has the purse strings of a lot of his Dad's money.....if true, I would have mentioned his name as well. I think one of the Smith's son is a higher up in the Fedex chain of command as well. Even though Huff was at USM for only one year, I can understand him going to Memphis. Definitely a step up and a huge step up in likely NIL money. If Canon and his brother can find any way possible, a lot of Fred's money will end up going to Memphis football. Huff has stepped into a nice situation and he said himself for the first time, he is taking a job that is currenty winning vs a job that was failing. Will be interesting to follow his path at Memphis and see if he can take them a few steps higher.
Heard Huff's introductory speech....
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32-20 at Marshall over 4 years and 3 bowls plus one SBC Championship. Took over a 1-10 USM job and turned them into a 7-5 team in one year, plus a bowl. With that track record, I'd take a few of the snakes in his bag to oil my team with.
Anyone in the apex job or c-suite market has to sound like a snake oil salesman. It's either a personality type they have, or those folks have been trained and coached into talking and behaving that way. Those kind of jobs require the bluster and big talk. What matters is if they back it up with performance and results.
Let's see how he does compared the recent Memphis coaches. I think he's going to be worse than the last several Memphis coaches. Marshall ran him off and he left USM with no recruiting class. He's had the same players just about his whole career as a HC at two schools
In this era, Memphis is always going to be competitive because they're going to have one of if not the biggest NIL deals in the G5. FedEx is always going to be writing checks, and legend has it that Fred bequeathed quite a sum to them in his will.
In 2024 Huff went 10-3 giving Marshall their first conference title in ten years. I don’t think he was run off, lol. He’d be an upgrade over Lebby.
Well I agree with you regarding Fuentes or Norvell. But Silverfield was an absolute clown of a coach. I don't know what the hell Arkansas is thinking but I bet Huff ends up doing better than Silverfield did. There's not a lot of coaches in the country who would've lost to UAB this year, but Ryan Silverfield is one of them.
But he was, he made demands and Marshall refused and they parted ways. Lots of bad blood there over a number of things.
I can probably agree with you some on Silverfield but I bet Huff is similar. He didn't beat one team with a winning record this season unless you count a SWAC team and the sunbelt is so bad they got two teams in their same division playing each other in a bowl game. They got a literal rematch of a division game in a bowl
At a Southern Miss team who won 1 game last year? I'd maybe cut him a little slack on that.
He brought over like 15 starters from Marshall and about 10 more back ups but one thing for sure is Memphis should run that conference with USF because the rest of the good teams left and Tulane just hire Will freaking Hall
which helped him improve their win total by about six from last year. USM's roster was a wasteland. Still kinda was even with the transfers.
That's my point, he ain't recruited in that last 2-3 years really. He was smart to get the hell out of Hattiesburg
Agree, Memphis will provide a lot more support for him to succeed. Now, it's just up to him to see if he can coach.
Is that in Memphis? I haven't heard that name, but there are a gazillion local eateries around the area that I probably haven't heard of or been to. One you do hear some about is the Kooky Canuck. Interesting place I have never been to but have heard about from my Memphis friends.
He went 15-9 in conference in 3 years. Marshall went 15-6 in conference the 3 years before. It’s a pretty good gig.
