Charles Huff isn’t feeding the coaching carousel chatter. With his name popping up online in connection to openings at Baylor, NC State and Maryland, the first-year Memphis coach said he’s heard enough - and said the noise doesn’t match reality.
“Yeah, no, I talked to them probably three weeks ago, I told them, I said every job that's getting ready to come open my name's gonna be up for,” Huff said about informing the team of the rumors ahead of time. “We can control the volume, so I’m controlling the volume now.
None of it makes sense, not been called, not been contacted. You don't get a job in the middle of the season.”
For now, his attention is locked on Saturday night, when the Tigers bring a 6-2 record and a 3-1 mark in conference play into a home matchup with Army. The Black Knights are 5-2 overall and 4-1 in the league, and this one has real weight near the top of the American Conference standings, with Memphis sitting third and Army fourth.
Army’s conference résumé has some punch to it. The Black Knights have already beaten Tulane, Temple, Florida Atlantic and Tulsa, and that Tulane win matters because it’s Memphis’ only conference loss.
FAU, meanwhile, sits at 5-2, so this isn’t a schedule padded with soft spots. Army has earned its place in the conversation.
The challenge for Memphis goes beyond the standings. The Tigers are about to see the option offense again for the first time since last Thanksgiving, when they ran into Navy and lost 28-17. That puts a premium on discipline and patience against a style of offense that can shrink the game and punish mistakes.
Memphis’ defense, led by players like J'Mond Tapp, Taylor Burton and Elijah Kinsler, will have to deal with Army’s triple option, and Huff said the preparation comes with a different kind of strain because it’s not something teams get to rehearse often.
“Obviously their different offensive scheme, it creates a huge challenge just because we don't see it a ton from a practice or competitive standpoint,” Huff said Tuesday. “Got to find a way to balance what they do with adjusting what we do because it changes kind of how you have to align, how you have to play defense... you got to be a lot more efficient with every drive because you don't know how many you're going to get.”
That last part matters especially with Memphis’ slow starts this season. Against a team like Army, falling behind would be a bad place to live, because possessions may be scarce and every series gets magnified.
Quarterback Marcus Stokes put it simply when asked about matching the pace and rhythm of a military academy team.
“I think it's just controlling ourselves and controlling what we can control on the field,” Stokes said. “It just comes back to doing your job and doing your one-eleventh, that's just kind of like how I see it.”
Stokes is coming off a huge day in which he accounted for five total touchdowns, and that performance landed him on both the Manning Award stars of the week list and the Davey O'Brien Award Great Eight for the second time this season.
He has become the engine of the offense, and maybe the emotional spark for the whole team. His energy can swing the mood of a game, and he has built a reputation for throwing his body at the first-down marker without hesitation. For Stokes, that style is a choice with a purpose.
“I like being able to have the opportunities to put my body on the line for my teammate because I think it also, you know, proves to them... I care about this team, like this team's my family.”
That edge fits both his game and the city around him. The St. Augustine native has connected with Memphis and embraced the hard-nosed feel of the fan base, making that part of who he is as he leads the Tigers into one of their biggest conference tests left.
In Other News...
Oregons Win Brought Back Chip Kelly And A New Offensive Concern
Oregons comeback win over Northwestern at Autzen carried a little extra edge because Chip Kelly was back on the sideline, this time as the Wildcats offensive coordinator and not the coach who once helped define the Ducks modern identity. After Oregon pulled out the 34-26 victory, Kelly spent time postgame with Dan Lanning and Dante Moore, a reminder of how much history still hangs around these matchups even when the uniforms have changed.
The bigger concern for Oregon may have been what happened on the field, where running back Jordon Davison left with a leg injury and is expected to have his status updated soon. In a game the Ducks had to climb back into, any injury in the backfield adds another layer of uncertainty as they move deeper into the season, especially with the offense still trying to settle in after a physical opener. [Read more 🡒]
Oregon Just Landed A Surprising New Name In Its OC Search
Florida States decision to fire Mike Norvell after the loss to Clemson has already sent ripples through the coaching carousel, and it comes at a moment when Oregon is trying to steady its own offensive staff. The Ducks recently moved on from offensive coordinator Drew Mehringer, leaving Dan Lanning with a major hire to make as the program continues to chase stability and continuity on that side of the ball.
Norvells name has now surfaced in the discussion around Oregons opening, largely because of his previous working relationship with Lanning. It is still only speculation, but it adds an unexpected wrinkle to a search that figures to draw plenty of attention, especially if Oregon wants an experienced voice with ties to its head coach rather than a more conventional outside candidate. [Read more 🡒]
Arizona Suddenly Has A Real AP Poll Problem
The latest AP Poll is headed for a shakeup after USC, still unranked, stunned No. 2 Ohio State and sent ripples through the top of the rankings. Oregon and Iowa, both of whom had fallen out of the poll, also took care of business in their recent games, putting themselves back in the conversation as voters sort through a weekend that featured wins from Georgia and Texas Tech along with a handful of losses elsewhere.
For Oregon, the timing matters. A strong response after dropping out of the rankings can quickly change the tone around a team in a crowded Big Ten race, and the Ducks now have a realistic path back into the poll when the new rankings are released. With so many results moving in different directions, the bigger question is how far the reshuffle goes and which teams get caught in the middle of it. [Read more 🡒]