Jason Whitlock used Memphis’ season-opening win as a launch point to draw a sharp contrast between Charles Huff and Deion Sanders.
The Tigers beat UNLV 27-21 over the weekend in the first game of the Huff era, and with Colorado set to open Thursday night at Georgia Tech on ESPN, Whitlock shifted his focus to the different ways the two coaches operate. After already dedicating an episode of his Fearless show on YouTube to Sanders before the season, he followed up with another video on X praising Huff’s approach.
“Deion Sanders has the cameras,” said Whitlock. “Charles Huff has the consequences.
One performs toughness for television. The other demands it when no one is watching.
In the next six, seven minutes I will show you why Huff, the kid from a 10-acre hog farm outside Denton, Maryland, is the most serious hire in college football, and why the Prime Time model, for all its charisma, is the wrong way to build men and build a team.”
Whitlock then laid out Huff’s path to Memphis, stressing that the coach’s background was built through hard work rather than flash.
“No speeches about work ethic. Just work,” Whitlock continued.
“Huff said he knew at six that he wanted to coach. No football offers out of high school.
Walk-on at Hampton. Not an anointed scholarship kid.
A walk-on who earned the starting center job, earned the captaincy, and learned that nothing is given. Then, seven coaching stops.
Grinding. Tennessee State, Maryland, Vanderbilt, Penn State, Mississippi State, and the Ph.D. under Nick Saban at Alabama.
He did not network his way up. He worked his way up.”
From there, Whitlock turned his criticism toward Sanders and the culture around him.
“Deion took the opposite elevator. Prime Time was a brilliant player who became a brand.
The sunglasses after dark. The luggage.
The reality show. The son and quarterback.
The portal as a revolving door. The press conference as performance.
It is the confusion killing college football. The belief that aura is authority and attention is achievement.
Deion wants you to watch him. Huff wants you to watch your assignment.”
Colorado’s opener arrives with a different level of attention than it has drawn in recent seasons, and Whitlock noted that the spotlight around the program has cooled after last year’s 3-9 finish and 15th-place Big 12 standing. The network buzz, the celebrity visits, and the “First Take” crossover feel are gone.
That leaves Sanders heading into his fourth season in Boulder with a different kind of test, while Huff is only beginning his run at Memphis. Whitlock clearly sees that as the more serious path.
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Kippy Browns name has long carried weight in Memphis football circles, and his death on Aug. 31 at age 71 marks the loss of one of the programs most important trailblazers. A former University of Memphis quarterback and Hall of Famer, Brown helped reshape the schools history as the first Black quarterback in Memphis football history, a distinction that made his place in the program bigger than any one era or lineup.
Browns impact did not end when his playing days were over. He built a successful coaching career that reached the NFL and included a role on the Seattle Seahawks 2014 Super Bowl-winning staff, adding another layer to a football life defined by breaking barriers and staying close to the game. For Memphis, his passing is about more than remembering a standout player - it is about honoring a pioneer whose influence stretched far beyond the field. [Read more 🡒]
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There were plenty of other opening-week storylines around the country, from Pribula's career-best performance for Virginia to North Dakota State making a successful FBS debut, but Florida State's backfield development may end up being one of the more relevant ones for the Tigers' broader conference watch. When a young runner flashes in an opener, it can change how a staff rotates touches and how opponents prepare in the weeks ahead, and Florida State now has a reason to see whether that performance was a one-night burst or the start of something bigger. [Read more 🡒]