Player loyalty puts Memphis Football in the drivers seat of a successful season
Rachel Phillips
With key guys returning, Memphis football have a great chance to win the AAC Title and grab the Group of Five spot in the extended college football playoffs.
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — With looser rules on the transfer portal in recent years and the introduction of name, image and likeness, we’ve seen college athletics turn on its head.
“I always compare it to like are you going to try and find a better looking girlfriend who might have different attributes to your current situation and they take that into equation when they’re looking at ‘hey do I want to stay at this school?’ and we have so much to offer here,” Memphis football head coach Ryan Silverfield said.
Money, exposure and playing time are just some of the things that are enticing athletes around the country to learn a new playbook.
According to the Athletic, as of Friday 2,100 scholarship football players have entered the 2023-24 portal at the FBS level.
“It was definitely a consideration to be honest,” Memphis quarterback Seth Henigan said. “You know, obviously, I want to be like ‘I was loyal and true the whole time.'”
Henigan has spent his entire collegiate career at Memphis, but this offseason entering his senior year he spent weighing up what would prepare him best for a pro career.
“At the end of the day you’ve got to make the decision that’s best for not only your financial side, but your football side and your legacy and a bunch of different factors and the people around you,” Henigan said.
For Henigan, the people and the program is what proved the key factors. His top three receivers in Demeer Blankumsee, Koby Drake and Roc Taylor all choosing to run it back with the Tigers, who ranked No. 6 in the country last year for points scored per game.
Last season Henigan connected with the trio for 2,336 yards and 12 touchdowns.
“If Roc were to leave you know a variety of things might have happened and the dominoes might have just fell, but we’re all still here and we just have a chance to do something special ’cause we were just so close last year,” Henigan said.
“I feel like we have a chance this year, and I don’t want to miss that opportunity of building with the team and staying with the team that I came here with,” Taylor said.
“College football is a business these days and it’s a lucrative business so to see so many guys stay loyal is a big thing for this program,” Memphis Defensive Lineman Chandler Martin said.
The player’s loyalty to the Tiger blue more impressive when you consider this was before they knew about Memphis’ $25 million NIL deal with FedEx on Friday.
The hope now is that it all culminates on the field this fall.
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