After finishing the 2014 season with a 10-3 record – which includes a bowl game victory of perennial national power BYU – and ranked No.25 in the final AP College Football Poll, the Memphis Tigers have changed the program’s expectations heading into 2015. The Tigers will lose eight starters on a senior-laden defensive side of the football, but they will return eight starters offensively – including quarterback Paxton Lynch.
Head coach Justin Fuente has stockpiled young talent on both sides of the ball, and those young players will be expected to step up and replace a senior class that is credited with changes the fortunes of Memphis football.
Let’s take a look at what the Tigers need to do this offseason to sustain their success for year’s to come.
1. Find Defensive Replacements
It’s what happens in college football. There are a defined amount of years a player can play in college, and the Tigers will have to find a way to replace some very talented seniors on defense. With only three starters expected to return in 2015 – freshman defensive end Ernest Suttles, sophomore outside linebacker Jackson Dillon, and junior safety Reggis Ball – there will be many new faces for a defense that has become one of the nation’s best over the last few seasons.
On top of losing eight starters, the man who orchestrates this great defense, former defensive coordinator Barry Odom, left Memphis to take the same position at his Alma Mater, Missouri. It is expected that Galen Scott – current associate head coach and linebackers coach at Memphis – will step up and assume the defensive coordinator duties with the departure of Odom.
In terms of replacing the production of the defensive seniors, Memphis has eight players returning who were listed in the two-deep on the depth chart – or simply listed as backups. Ricky Hunter, Cortez Crosby, Wynton McManis, Loenard Pegues, and Chris Morley are just a few of the names Tiger fans can expect to step up and play a much larger role in 2015, but Fuente has proven that he will give young players every opportunity to earn playing time. And Memphis currently has 12 players committed in their 2015 recruiting class who are expected to play defense. Five of the six junior college players currently committed to Memphis are defensive players and should be able to help immediately; which is a credit the coaching staff for recognizing a huge need and doing everything they can to address it.
2. Take The Next Step Offensively
Fuente has always been labeled an offensive coach and deservedly so. His resume as an offensive coordinator at TCU speaks for itself, and he has done well offensively at Memphis – especially this past season. But in 2015, Memphis will truly need their offense to be elite if they expect to compete for another AAC title.
The team’s defense came up big last season even when the offense struggled at times to put points up on the board. Take a look back at the third game of the season – the Ole Miss game. Memphis lost 24-3, but the defense forced Ole Miss into four turnovers and held the Rebels to seven points through three quarters, giving the Tigers every opportunity to be in the game. Or look at the Houston game – Memphis’ only conference loss. The Tigers turned the ball over five times; yet, the defense forced Houston into three turnovers and gave them an opportunity to win the game despite falling short 28-24. Finally, and probably the best example, was the Temple game. Memphis won 16-13 in a game where the offense struggled mightily. The Tigers defense held the Owls to under 300 total yards and forced Temple to turn the ball over twice giving Memphis a huge conference road win.
With so much returning offensively and so little on defense, the Tigers will need to be able to score with consistency. Lynch will be in his third year starting after seeing his numbers improve in nearly every statistical category from his freshman to his sophomore seasons. Surrounding Lynch will be a stable of play-makers. Junior-to-be Sam Craft – one of the Tigers most dangerous offensive weapons – will, presumably, be fully healthy for the start of the 2015 season after missing nearly half of the season with a shoulder injury. Doroland Dorceus – who missed ten games due to a knee injury – and Jarvis Cooper are expect to shoulder the majority of the load carrying the ball for the Tigers. Memphis will return four of their five starting offensive linemen and five of their top six pass catchers.
If Memphis’ offense reaches its full potential under Fuente, it should be another banner season in Bluff City.
3. Sure-Up The Roster
Many rumors have been floating around during the past few months about potential transfers coming to Memphis. Within the last two weeks, it was reported by Greg Gaston – local Memphis radio host and Tiger basketball TV play-by-play man – that current Ole Miss running back Mark Dodson would come back to his hometown of Memphis and play for the Tigers. While nothing seems to be official yet, landing Dodson would only add to what should be a great Memphis offense in 2015.
Two more former Memphians and SEC players have been linked to possibly returning home to play for Memphis: former Vanderbilt running back Brian Kimbrow and current Georgia defensive back Sheldon Dawson. Kimbrow is no longer a part of the Vanderbilt football team, and John Martin – former Commercial Appeal recruiting insider and current radio producer and columnist for 92.9 FM ESPN in Memphis – reported back in late September that Fuente and Kimbrow had not been in contact. But one should not rule out the possibility of Kimbrow returning home.
When asked about a possible transfer to Memphis, Dawson told Martin – also back in late September – “maybe.”
All three of these players played high school football in Memphis, and they are all former four-star recruits that have played at SEC schools.
Additionally, Memphis will finish up their 2015 recruiting class – which currently ranks fourth best in the AAC per 247Sports – in roughly a month’s time. The Tigers currently have 18 players committed so there will be room to add several more over the next few weeks. Ideally, I believe Memphis would like to finish with a top-three recruiting class in the AAC.
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