If you grew up playing Madden, you remember when the gaming franchise introduced the ability to select a coaching style in the game’s popular franchise mode. Perhaps you would decide to give your fictional coach the “Motivator” characteristic — allowing one to more easily sign free agents and retain players in the offseason. Or maybe you elected to tab your coach as the “Strategist” of the organization, gaining “experience points” at a faster rate throughout the season. If we were assigning Memphis Head Coach Ryan Silverfield a hypothetical coaching style, however, I think an argument could be made that the fourth year lead man falls into the “Team Builder” category. That’s not a shot at his coaching ability, although I believe even Silverfield would admit that Memphis OC Tim Cramsey has been the lead conductor of the Tigers’ high-flying offense this season. I do think, however, the long-time football coach who’s had influence in running a football team since the age of 24 is developing a knack at excelling in other areas of the coaching sphere.
With eight seasons and counting in Memphis, it’d be difficult to find a coach that’s more familiar with the challenges and advantages of running a football program in Memphis, Tennessee. After second-year Defensive Coordinator Matt Barnes abruptly left the program earlier this month to join first-year Head Coach Jeff Lebby’s staff at Mississippi State, Ryan Silverfield will now seek to put that snowballing experience to the test while making his third defensive coordinator hire in what will be five seasons as the Tigers’ head coach. Look at Silverfield’s “team building” track record over the last 12 months, and Tiger fans have good reason to feel pretty optimistic about the pending hire at defensive coordinator.
Recent Staff Upgrades
Around this time twelve months ago, there were plenty aspects of the Tigers’ play to give Memphis fans frustration throughout the 2022 season. Despite blowing out Utah State 38-10 in the 2022 SERVPRO First Responder’s Bowl, three staff members — the offensive line coach, wide receivers coach, and special teams coach — were not retained on the Tigers’ coaching staff just three days after the bowl victory. Then-Sophomore QB Seth Henigan spent most of his time running for his life, the Tigers’ wide receivers often struggled with drops and an inability to create separation, and the special teams play.. well, just think of that Houston game as one example. Silverfield proceeded to hire former UAB WR Coach Larry Smith (who was also allowed to walk in Birmingham) the same day and another recently unemployed staffer at Iowa State, OL Coach Jeff Myers, about a week later. Silverfield pulled out his old NFL contact cards and hired Buffalo ST Coach and former Vikings colleague Chris White for the same position at Memphis.
To varying degrees, every position group improved in 2023. Memphis WR Roc Taylor currently sits just 19 yards shy of becoming the Tigers’ first 1,000 yard receiver since Calvin Austin III and several returning players in the Tigers’ WR room, including Koby Drake and Joe Scates, saw an uptick in production in 2023. The offensive line certainly improved in 2023, too. Seth Henigan was sacked 18 less times through the regular season and Blake Watson became the Tigers’ first 1,000 yard rusher since Kenneth Gainwell did it in 2019. Memphis Kicker Tanner Gillis, who likely started the season sitting third on the Tigers’ depth chart, was thrust into a starting role against Missouri after two other Memphis kickers mysteriously sat out for weeks with injury. Gillis ended the regular season going 9-11 in FGs and 44-45 in XPs. Kick returner Sutton Smith finished the regular season ranked 18th in the country with a return average of 24.7 YPR and 445 total yards on just 18 attempts. Perhaps most importantly, the Tigers’ special teams didn’t lose them any games in 2023, an improvement in and of itself.
So simply, the three weakest areas for the Tigers in 2022 were improved after their positional coaches were replaced with seemingly better hires in 2023. All three of Smith, Myers, and White remain on the Tigers’ staff as of today, and hopefully Silverfield can “hire up” once again with the Tigers’ only open staff position following the AutoZone Liberty Bowl.
Transfer Portal Upgrades
Upon the conclusion of the regular season, the 2023 Memphis Tigers became just the tenth team in program history to finish with 9 wins in a season. With a bowl victory versus Iowa State, they can become the fifth team to ever win more than 10 games at Memphis. I ask you, what could the season have looked like if First Team All-AAC selection Blake Watson wasn’t in the backfield? Or what about one-time little known Chandler Martin (also First Team All-AAC) from ETSU? Throw in Xavier Hill, Simeon Blair, DeMeer Blankumsee, and others, and it quickly becomes evident that the 2023 transfer portal class made a big difference in the outcome of the Tigers’ regular season. I’m not suggesting there haven’t been duds in the transfer portal era for Memphis, but Silverfield seemingly hit more than he missed with his additions in the last round of portal coming-and-going’s.
While the Tigers ultimately lost big contributors like Caden Preiskorn and Cam’Ron Jackson last offseason and have seen Davion Carter, Makylan Pounders, and Cameron Smith walk so far this year, it seems as if the “roster management” aspect of Ryan Silverfield’s coaching approach has gone fairly well in an ultra-competitive NIL battleground. Let’s be real, the Tigers’ NIL abilities aren’t the worst in the country, but they also aren’t the best (not even in the diminished American Athletic Conference). Nevertheless, the Tigers’ coaching staff has managed to bring in guys like South Carolina transfer Mario Anderson, who selected Memphis over committable offers from schools like Oklahoma and USC.
Good Coaches in “Smaller Ponds”
Another factor that must be considered when wondering if Silverfield can land a difference maker in his latest DC hire is the reality that there are several good candidates currently at schools the Tigers could theoretically out-bid for their services. Third-year Toledo DC Vince Kehres, who led a Top 30 defense in 2023, made around $235,500 this season after his salary was boosted from $137,000 in 2021 and 2022. South Alabama’s Corey Batoon, who also coordinated a Top 30 defense this year, made a very similar salary as Kerhes, coming in at $236,000 in total earnings this season. Jacksonville State’s second-year DC Zac Alley, who is widely thought to be an up-and-comer and protege of defensive guru Brent Venables, made $213,800 with the Gamecocks this season. If Memphis were to simply match the salary of former Tigers’ DC Matt Barnes ($440,000) with their new DC hire, the Tigers could practically double the salary of a coordinator coming in from a smaller school. While the Tigers have seen a many of former coaches leave for wealthier pastures in the past, they possess the ability to do the same bidding with “smaller programs” in their own respect.
Will the latest DC hire be Ryan Silverfield’s best yet? Only time will tell. There are plenty of factors, though, to suggest there’s good reason to be optimistic. With an offense as dynamic as Memphis had this year, securing even consistent defensive play could equal a special season for the Tigers in 2024.