Memphis football isn't what we thought because of opt-outs. That's not necessarily bad | Giannotto

The disappointment came through in how little Ryan Silverfield had to say about Damonte Coxie on Monday, and the blunt tone in which those few words were delivered. 

Two days after the biggest comeback in Memphis football history, the first-year coach revealed only that Coxie decided to opt out of this college football season suddenly. Or at least that’s how it felt to Silverfield upon learning he would be without his leading receiver. 

“It was in the middle of the week,” he said of Coxie, “and it was not expected.”

The speed at which a college football team can unexpectedly change is often remarkable, and Saturday highlighted how much the unprecedented circumstances surrounding this season expedited that process for the Tigers. 

They entered this year expected to contend for another American Athletic Conference championship. They had the only offense in the country that returned a 4,000-yard passer (Brady White), a 1,000-yard rusher (Kenneth Gainwell) and a 1,000-yard receiver (Coxie). They had an improving defense that brought back a majority of its starters. They had one of the country's top special teams units. 

Against UCF, however, Memphis re-affirmed its status as an AAC championship contender with White as the only member of the offense who started in the same position when Memphis faced Penn State in the Cotton Bowl. In fact, there were only nine players total (four on offense, five on defense) who were in the starting lineup in Dallas last December who started Saturday.

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Three games have passed between then and now, three games played disjointedly in the middle of a pandemic, and this Memphis football team and this Memphis football season already aren’t what we thought they would be.

Which isn’t necessarily bad for the program.  

“We went from being a veteran-laden team,” Silverfield said, to a team featuring playmakers fans had to look up in the game program. 

Like redshirt freshmen Rodrigues Clark, Javon Ivory and Tahj Washington. Or former walk-ons from around here like Calvin Austin III (Harding Academy) and Kylan Watkins (Whitehaven). Or a player coming off a major injury like tight end Sean Dykes. 

“All you guys said in the offseason, ‘Aww, they’re loaded with weapons with Kenny and Coxie,’” Silverfield added. “Guess what? They’re not here.”

Saturday’s win over UCF demonstrated, however, that the goal of contending for a conference title doesn’t need to change just because a lot of the faces on the field are different. Not with White under center.

Saturday’s win over UCF also reinforced that Silverfield’s success will increasingly hinge on the players who emerge under him more than the players who are back after emerging under former coach Mike Norvell.

Because it isn’t just Coxie and Gainwell who are gone from last year’s magical campaign. Key weapons like Antonio Gibson and Kedarian Jones and Joey Magnifico ran out of eligibility on offense. Defensive stalwarts like Bryce Huff and Austin Hall graduated, too. 

The three returning offensive line starters are all playing at new positions this year. On defense, three of the four players who started in the secondary and two of the four linebackers Saturday didn’t start in the Cotton Bowl. 

So this isn’t the team that played in the Cotton Bowl. This is something different, something more inexperienced, and something that can’t be hidden now that two of the team’s most recognizable names opted out of the season. 

Never mind the optics of what this all means for Gainwell or Coxie, or their legacies here. The argument that not playing this college season is better for their NFL Draft stock seems an imperfect one, particularly for a fringe NFL prospect like Coxie. But given the uncertainties surrounding the spread of COVID-19, only the timing of their decisions should be called into question, not the actual merits of those decisions.

For Memphis, maybe this becomes the best of both football worlds.

Would the Tigers be better positioned to repeat as AAC champions this year with Coxie and Gainwell and safety La’Andre Thomas and wide receiver Pop Williams and linebacker Tim Hart, or any of the players who elected not to play this year? Of course.

But won't this year’s variables better position Silverfield beyond this season?

Austin and Ivory and Washington and Clark are getting all the snaps they could ever want. They’re all gaining invaluable experience for next year, when Memphis is probably breaking in a new quarterback. All while competing to remain atop the league because of the current quarterback.

White may even be eligible to stay for a seventh year of college because of NCAA rules put in effect due to the pandemic. But in just a few words Monday night, once Coxie officially announced his decision to declare for the NFL Draft, White suggested this fall is more likely his last hurrah in college.

“See you soon,” he wrote to Coxie on Twitter. 

Hopefully not too soon, though.

You can reach Commercial Appeal columnist Mark Giannotto via email at mgiannotto@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter: @mgiannotto