Memphis head coach Charles Huff joined Sports 56 Mornings on Thursday with Greg Gaston and Eli Savoie to talk about various topics surrounding his team and college football.
Huff accepted the Memphis job on December 6, and he just finished his first spring practice with his new team in April. The Tigers’ roster features more than 70 new players, with a large portion of them coming from the transfer portal.
Huff added a lot of players he worked with at Southern Miss, and most of his staff followed him from his previous stop. Still, despite a lot of familiarity, there are many unknowns about the upcoming season for Huff and his team.
Here’s a look at several topics Huff discussed on Sports 56 Mornings.
What he learned about his team during the spring
Huff just wrapped up his first spring practice at Memphis, and he said he learned a lot about his team both on the field and off the field. The head coach pointed out especially how encouraged he was to see their energy day in and day out.
“These guys love football,” Huff said. “We didn’t have one day this spring where it was kind of like pulling teeth to get the effort out of them. Which typically, somewhere in the middle, after a good scrimmage, their bodies are sore, and they’re a little draggy. We didn’t have that. They came out every day with really good energy and really good effort.”
On the field, Huff likes how big and fast the team looked during the spring. He was tasked with replacing most of last season’s roster following the coaching change, and the head coach emphasized in his introductory press conference that the goal was to get bigger and faster at most positions.
The quarterbacks
The biggest storyline going into the season will be the starting quarterbacks’ battle. Huff brought in multiple quarterbacks this offseason, but it appears the battle is down to South Carolina transfer Air Noland and West Florida transfer Marcus Stokes.
The head coach spoke at length about both quarterbacks after the final spring practice in April, and he told Greg and Eli that the decision would be made ahead of the season opener. Huff joked that the announcement will come “about 30 seconds before kickoff”, but he added that the team needs to know a few weeks before who the guy is.
“The team needs to know at some point who that person is, right, because they gotta kind of rally behind that person,” Huff said. “But, we can’t make a decision too fast because we don’t have all the information, and I think the best thing that can happen for either one of them is the fierce competition. It’s going to make them better.”
Huff added that this summer will be “huge” in seeing who the two quarterbacks are off the field.
CFP expansion
Huff also spoke about more generic college football topics, including the college football playoff. While he jokingly said that his option is “as low on the totem pole as probably anyone else,” he likes the 12-team model and thinks that college football should stay at that number.
“I think there is a sacristy to our game in college football that makes those 12 spots really hard to get to, and I think that’s what drives teams in the summer,” Huff said.
The head coach also acknowledged the positives for playoff expansion and that an expanded playoff could only help more group of five teams get in, but Huff says he believes the playoffs should be set aside for only the top few elite teams in college football.
“If you want to make the 12-team playoff, and this is coming from a person who is probably the farthest away from making a 12-team playoff with the way it is now, just because of the parameters, win all your games,” Huff said. “They won’t keep you out. I promise you they won’t.”
