There was lots of upheaval over the last week and a half Memphis Football.
It started when Ryan Silverfield left for Arkansas on Nov. 30, three days after the Tigers’ regular-season finale against Navy. The first signing period occurred three days later and interim coach Reggie Howard was tasked with maintaining a recruiting class that had lots of questions about the future of the program.
Advertisement
Memphis ultimately held most of its class together, losing only a few commitments to other schools and recruiting 18 players.
“The biggest thing was just letting them know that they had to trust that we were going to find the right head coach and letting them know that the culture is there,” Howard said on Dec. 11. “Memphis has built a winning tradition over the past decade.”
That coach turned out to be Charles Huff. The former Southern Miss coach was introduced on Dec. 10, but he won’t take over until after Memphis (8-4) faces NC State (7-5) in the Gasparilla Bowl on Dec. 19 (1:30 p.m., ESPN) in Tampa, Florida. Howard will coach that game, and the former Memphis player — who had coached defensive backs before being elevated to interim head coach — called it a “dream come true.”
“I congratulate those players,” Howard said. “They’re very, very resilient. They’re fighters. I think at first it stunned a lot of us, but I think once we were able to get the word out that it was going to be a quick process to identify our next head coach and once that was solidified, I think it stabilized things.”
Advertisement
There have been other changes since leaving Silverfield. Offensive coordinator Tim Cramsey, wide receivers coach Larry Smith and offensive line coach Jeff Myers have left the team and are expected to join the staff at Silverfield in Arkansas. Tight ends coach Brad Salem and quarterbacks coach Mitch Stewart will be the co-offensive coordinators for the game, Howard said.
Howard said he was “very interested” in remaining with the Tigers on Huff’s staff, but wouldn’t have those discussions until after the bowl game. Huff is not expected to make the team in Tampa, but is working on building his team.
Although the Tigers haven’t lived up to their championship expectations this season, they still have one game left to send the seniors out with a win. Howard said quarterback Brendon Lewis and defensive lineman William Whitlow Jr. were instrumental in holding the Tigers together heading into the bowl game.
“I experienced things like this all the time,” Lewis said. “So I wasn’t really surprised when it happened. Whit’s older, too, so we kind of just said, ‘This is what happens in college football. And you can either feel sorry for yourself and do stupid things, or you can just take it on the chin and keep moving forward and getting better, no matter who the coach is, no matter who’s in the building.’
Advertisement
Contact sports editor Jonah Dylan at [email protected] or on X @thejonahdylan.
This article was originally published on Memphis Commercial Appeal: How Memphis interim coach Reggie Howard is preparing for the bowl game
