Memphis football wrapped up its first spring practice under Charles Huff, and he is waiting to name a starting quarterback for the 2026 season. Huff brought in three quarterbacks through the transfer portal, but it appears the starting quarterback battle will come down between Air Noland and Marcus Stokes.
Huff got a good look at both quarterbacks throughout the spring, but he isn’t ready to name a starting quarterback. While it appears to be a two-man battle, the head coach said after the final spring practice that he plans to name a starter a few weeks before the opening game, but he will continue to evaluate both quarterbacks throughout the summer.
“A big part of the evaluation now is how do they command the team in the summer,” Huff said after the final spring practice. “Who takes the leadership role of getting the guys the throwing sessions. Getting the guys the extra meetings when the coaches are on the road recruiting.”
Huff said that he liked what he saw from both quarterbacks during the spring, and he liked the way they battled every day.
While both quarterbacks have college experience, they have different backgrounds from each other, and it will be interesting to see how that affects them as they battle for the starting job.
Stokes was a four-star recruit out of high school and committed to Florida, but his scholarship was rescinded after an incident prior to his enrollment. After losing his scholarship from the Gators and multiple other schools, Stokes enrolled at Division II West Florida, where he played for three seasons.
During his freshman season, he appeared in only three games, throwing for 57 yards, and took a redshirt year. As a redshirt freshman, he made eight starts and threw for 1,540 yards, 14 touchdowns and eight interceptions, while rushing for 138 yards and three touchdowns on the ground.
His breakout season came during his redshirt sophomore campaign when he was named a Harlon Hill Trophy finalist after throwing for 3,297 yards and 30 touchdowns. The quarterback also added 367 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns with his legs.
He entered the portal after the 2025 season and quickly garnered Division I interest, including offers from several Power Five schools. He chose the Tigers after taking an official visit shortly after the transfer portal opened.
Noland joins the Memphis roster after spending the last two seasons on Power Five rosters. The former top 5 quarterback recruit signed with Ohio State out of high school but didn’t see any action during his true freshman season.
After the 2024 season, Noland entered the transfer portal and landed at South Carolina, where he appeared in two games and threw for just 13 yards on three attempts. The quarterback entered the transfer portal for a second straight offseason and landed at Memphis, looking for a bigger opportunity.
It’s a battle between a quarterback who has a lot of experience at a lower level and a quarterback with very little experience at the highest level. The backgrounds won’t have much effect on what Huff ultimately decides, but it will be interesting to see if one has an advantage over the other.
Following spring, the assumption is that Stokes has the advantage after being a starter for two seasons and leading a team, but it appear this will be a decision that ultimately will come down to who looks better in the weeks leading up to the week 0 game against UNLV.
The Athletic wrote about the quarterback battle in a "spring intel" story, and they indicated that Stokes appears to have the edge heading into the summer.
“I feel comfortable as a head coach because we have two really good options,” Huff said. “Obviously, we’ve got to dial that thing down and send someone out there first, but when Noah built the ark, he built two-by-two. So, we want to have two of everything.”