NCAAF Memphis Tigers

General Information

Conference: American Athletic Conference

NCAA DIvision: Division 1

City: Memphis, Tennessee

Stadium: Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium

Championships

• National Championships: 0
• Conference Titles: 8
• Divisional Championships: 3

Past Conferences:

• Mississippi Valley Conference (1928-1934).
• SIAA (1935-1942).
• Missouri Valley (1968-1972).
• Conference USA (1996-2012).

Memphis Tigers Standings & Analysis

Check out all the information related to team stats.

All-Time Memphis Tigers Standings & Records

Passing yards

• Brady White: 10,690
• Danny Wimprine: 10,215
• Paxton Lynch: 8,863
• Riley Ferguson: 7,955
• Seth Henigan: 5,830

Rushing yards

• DeAngelo Williams: 6,026
• Darrell Henderson: 3,545
• Patrick Taylor Jr.: 2,884
• Dave Casinelli: 2,636
• Curtis Steele: 2,462

Receiving yards

• Anthony Miller: 3,590
• Duke Calhoun: 2,981
• Damonte Coxie: 2,948
• Calvin Austin III: 2,541
• Carlos Singleton: 2,365

Memphis Tigers Football History

Team History

The University of Memphis formerly known as West Tennessee State Normal School began playing football in 1912. The Tigers won the Mississippi Valley Conference two times in 1929 and 1930, under coach Zach Curlin. In 1935, they moved to the SIAA where they won the conference in 1939.

The 40s and 50s were rather quiet for the Tigers except for the 1949 season. In 1949, the Tigers finished with a 9-2 record, and, in 1956, the Tigers played in their first bowl game.

They beat East Tennessee in the Burley Bowl. Ralph Hatley coached them from 1947 until 1957 and stepped down, winning nearly 60 percent of his games.

Bill Murphy took over in 1958, and, by 1963, he had the Tigers with an undefeated record. The season was historically great and ended with Murphy winning National Coach of the Year.

Additionally, Tigers running back Dave Casinelli led the entire nation in rushing. In ‘68, the Tigers joined the Missouri Valley Conference. Murphy retired in 1971. He retired with a school-best 91-44-1 record.

Coaches Galore in the 2000s Decade

From 1980-2000 the Tigers had a host of coaches. The Tigers didn’t win a conference championship throughout the stint. However, in 1996, the Tigers did go from independent to Conference USA. In 2000, the Tigers hired Tommy West.

It took a few years, but eventually West did get things churning in the right direction. In 2003, the Tigers finished with a 9-4 record. The Tigers were invited to the New Orleans Bowl where they beat North Texas 27-17 for their first win since 1971.

The Tigers boasted winning records in both 2004 and 2005. The Tigers had two really special players, Stephen Gostkowski and DeAngelo Williams, who would go on to be stars in the NFL.

Williams set an NCAA record by rushing for 100 yards 34 times in his career. In 2008 and 2009, the Tigers weren’t competitive and West was fired.

In 2012, the Tigers hired Justin Fuente. In 2013, they joined the Big East, which became the American Athletic Conference. The Tigers had a superb season in 2014. The season included wins over Middle Tennessee, Cincinnati, and South Florida.

The Tigers started 2-2 and ended up winning their last seven games. They went on to win the Miami Beach Bowl against BYU 55-48. The Tigers would follow that up by going 9-4 in 2015.

Unfortunately, the Tigers would lose coach Fuente at the end of the season. He took the coaching job at Virginia Tech.

Mike Norvell took over in 2016 and had the best stint in school history. In three seasons, the Tigers went 29-9 in his time. Additionally, they went to three straight bowl games and two conference championships under Norvell.

They posted an 11-1 record in 2019 and won the AAC. In 2019, the Tigers made history by playing in their first-ever New Year’s Bowl game. The Tigers played Penn State in the Cotton bowl.

They lost, but they did manage to put up 39 points. Unfortunately, Norvell took the head coaching job at Florida State.

Ryan Silverfield has been coaching the Tigers since 2019. The Tigers have posted at least a .500 record in each of his three seasons and have clinched a bowl game in each season.