Who is projected to start for the Tigers on special teams

In less than 65 days, Memphis will play its first game of the Charles Huff era in Las Vegas against UNLV. The game will take place a week before the start of the “traditional” regular season, as part of the Week Zero schedule.

With the season quickly approaching, there are a lot of questions about who could start for the Tigers. Huff and his staff brought in more than 70 new players, and most positions are up for the taking heading into the fall.

After looking at several positions, it’s time to look at who could start on special teams for Memphis.

Athlon Sports

K Philippe Laforge

P Harrison Tuck

KR Ian Foster

PR Manny Covey

Laforge is predicted to start at kicker, and there are only two kickers currently listed on the roster. Laforge is from Chattanooga, and he started his career at Coastal Carolina.

He attended the Baylor School in high school, and he was named the Kicker of the Year at the Tennessee Mr. Football Awards.

The kicker appeared in all 13 games for the Chanticleers, mainly handling kickoff duties, but he converted two field goals, including a 51-yarder against Georgia Southern. He went 2-for-4 on field goals and 1-for-1 on PATs, and it appears he will handle the field goals for the Tigers.

Redshirt sophomore Oliver Castaneda is the other kicker on the roster, but he hasn’t seen any playing time over the last three seasons. Michigan State transfer Tarik Ahmetbasic announced his commitment to the Tigers in May, but he isn’t on the roster yet.

Harrison Tuck is expected to be the punter as the only punter on the roster. Tuck joins Memphis’ roster after spending the last three seasons at Alabama State, and he appeared in 34 games for the Hornets.

The punter has averaged 39.2 yards per punt over the last three seasons, including 41.9 yards per punt in 2025. He landed 10 inside the 20-yard line, had three punts that travelled more than 50 yards and had three touchbacks. 

The punter is from Australia, and it looks like he’s improved throughout his career. It will be interesting to see how he performs for the Tigers.

It will be interesting to see who starts at the returner positions. Athlon lists Southern Miss transfer Ian Foster as the primary kick returner and Cincinnati transfer Manny Covey as the punt returner. 

Foster finished the season with only one return last season, but in 2024, he averaged 32.4 yards per return for Marshall. Covey recorded 16 punt returns last season, and he recorded 156 return yards, averaging 9.8 yards per return.

The Tigers have a lot of speed on the roster, and they will have a lot of options at both return positions. Michigan State transfer Alante Brown will be another name to know, especially on kick return.

Brown has logged 26 kick returns over the last six seasons, and he averaged 24.2 yards per return in that time, including 53.5 return yards on four returns in 2025.