Charles Huff spent part of his latest press conference swatting away the coaching rumors that have started to swirl around him, and he made it clear he doesn’t believe there’s anything to them.
With Baylor, NC State and Maryland all opening up within the last week, Huff’s name has already been tossed around online as a possible fit. But the first-year Memphis coach said he has not been contacted by any of those programs and doesn’t see the situation as anything worth entertaining right now.
“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 Huff and the Tigers, the focus now shifts squarely to Saturday night’s home matchup with Army, a team that brings a very different kind of problem. Memphis is 6-2 overall and 3-1 in the American Conference, while Army comes in at 5-2 and 4-1. That makes this one a major game near the top of the league standings, with both teams sitting third and fourth in the conference.
Army’s conference resume has come against Tulane, Temple, Florida Atlantic and Tulsa. FAU is sitting at 5-2, and Tulane is the lone conference team to beat Memphis so far, which is part of what makes this test feel so real for the Tigers.
The challenge is as much about style as it is about record. Memphis will have to deal with Army’s triple-option offense, something it hasn’t seen much of and something the Tigers last faced last Thanksgiving against Navy in a 28-17 loss. On the other side, Memphis will rely on defenders like J’Mond Tapp, Taylor Burton and Elijah Kinsler to try to slow down an attack that demands discipline snap after snap.
Huff knows the preparation changes when a military academy comes to town.
“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 for Memphis, which has had issues with slow starts. Against a team that can squeeze the game into fewer possessions, falling behind early would be a problem the Tigers can’t afford.
Quarterback Marcus Stokes put it plainly when asked about facing the adjusted pace of a military program.
“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 night of his own, finishing with five total touchdowns and landing 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 Memphis’ offense and, at times, the emotional force behind it too.
His game comes with plenty of edge. Stokes has never been shy about putting his body on the line near the sticks, and he says that’s part of how he plays for the guys around him.
“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 intensity has fit naturally with Memphis and its fan base. The St. Augustine native has embraced the city’s gritty personality, and that connection has become part of who he is on the field.
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