From the second he was officially named Memphis football coach, Charles Huff has made his expectations clear.
"I'm here to close the gap," he said at his introductory news conference in December 2025. "That's the mission, to close the gap. We've been good. We've won a lot of games. It's time to win a championship."
Eight months later, Huff is about to lead the Tigers into his first season. He hasn't shied away from those expectations, but he also knows the honeymoon period is about to end.
Memphis has gone through the offseason with plenty of excitement about Huff and what he brings to a Memphis program that has been good but not great the past few seasons. The Tigers haven't gone to the American Conference title game since 2019. That was an obvious
long-term goal for Huff coming in, but it's also about to be a short-term goal when the season kicks off on Aug. 29 at UNLV.
What has Huff learned about his team through the offseason?
"I don't know how many games we're going to win, but it's going to be a dogfight when you play us," he said. "You may beat us by 100, but we're going to keep getting up off the mat. That's the one thing. And I'm not just talking physically, punching a wall. These kids have showed up every single day wanting to get better."
There are plenty of questions and plenty of unknowns. But here's what we think we know about the Tigers heading into the season.
The Memphis offense is going to go fast
Huff also made it known that he would emphasize speed in the transfer portal. He put his money where he mouth was by hiring offensive coordinator Kevin Decker from Old Dominion. Decker runs an offensive system in the same vein as Tennessee's Josh Heupel or Auburn's Alex Golesh, and Memphis is going to go lightning fast in 2026.
Speed was also a priority in the portal, particularly at receiver. Tychaun Chapman, Alante Brown, Terrell Timmons and others will bring that to a new-look Tigers offense. It is going to look significantly different than it did the past few seasons under Tim Cramsey.
The running game still will be a priority, even though Memphis will routinely utilize the entire field and play toward the boundaries. Jaylin Carter, Manny Covey and Dallan Hayden all figure to play significant roles.
The talent on the roster is there
Memphis has as much talent as anyone in the American. But that ultimately doesn't mean anything once the games start.
Talent doesn't equal success in college football, and especially in this conference. Both Army and Navy have been successful the past few seasons while going into most games at a talent disadvantage.
But make no mistake about it: Memphis has a good enough roster to compete for the conference title. The Tigers have plenty of it in the trenches, and there's reason to believe the offensive and defensive lines will be major strengths. There are playmakers all over the field on defense, starting with J'Mond Tapp, Mike Montgomery and Ian Foster. All were All-Sun Belt performers in 2025.
The schedule is tough — but it'll answer a lot of questions early on
A lot of the questions about this Memphis team will be answered after the first few weeks of the season. The Tigers play at UNLV, then host Arkansas State before facing Boise State on the road. One way or the other, the whole country will have a pretty good idea of where the Tigers stand after those games.
They also have what looks like a relatively difficult conference schedule. They will have to face South Florida, Navy and Tulane on the road, and East Carolina and Army at home. All five of those teams are expected to be among the better teams in the conference.
It's a schedule that might be knocking Memphis down a peg in preseason rankings.
Reach sports writer Jonah Dylan at jonah.dylan@commercialappeal.com or on X @thejonahdylan.
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: What we think we know about Memphis football heading into 2026 season
