History of Memphis Tigers football

[10] Despite fielding a 56-player team in 1942, one of the largest in school history to that point, Memphis State managed to compile only a 2–7 record in 1942 due to many players being chosen for selective service for World War II.

[11] In 1947, athletics director Cecil Humphreys turned to his former college teammate at the University of Tennessee, Ralph Hatley, head coach at Christian Brothers High School in Memphis, to lead the football program.

[45] The program's next head coach was Fred Pancoast, who came to Memphis State from his post as offensive coordinator at Georgia under Vince Dooley.

[93] After a 21–14 loss to in-state foe Tennessee,[94] the Tigers defeated Louisville by a score of 26–14[82] and suffered a 14–12 letdown at the hands of rival Southern Miss in the season finale.

[96] In their first game after the death of rock-n-roll legend and longtime Memphis resident Elvis Presley,[97] the Tigers lost to Ole Miss in Jackson, Mississippi by a score of 7–3.

[133] The Tigers lost their first three games of the season, falling to Mississippi State by a score of 34–7,[134] Ole Miss in a 61–7 blowout[135] and Georgia Tech by a count of 17–8.

[186] Dockery was killed in a plane crash on December 12, 1983, in Lawrenceburg, Tennessee, en route to a speaking engagement before the city's quarterback club.

[187][145] Freshman defensive back Charles Greenhill, offensive coordinator Chris Faros, and booster Glenn Jones were also killed in the crash.

[145][149][188] On December 13, 1984, Dockery's widow Wallene filed a $182,000 lawsuit against Memphis State University and Coca-Cola seeking unpaid contractual payment obligations.

[224] Despite having no head coaching experience, Bailey arrived in Memphis with a great reputation as a defensive mind with over twenty years of assistant coaching experience, serving under the likes of Fran Curci at Miami and Kentucky, Al Conover at Rice and Foge Fazio at Pittsburgh before joining Galen Hall's Florida staff.

[348] He then joined Dick Tomey's Arizona staff, serving as offensive coordinator from 1988 to 1990 before taking over as James Madison's head coach.

[361] After a 17–9 loss to Southern Miss in the Black and Blue Bowl,[362] Scherer's squad finished the season with a 31–17 defeat by East Carolina.

[482] After leading the Tigers to consecutive bowl appearances for the first time in program history, the University of Memphis administration signed West to a raise and one-year contract extension.

[497] Williams, a senior in 2005 and a finalist for the Doak Walker Award that year,[498] was selected in the first round with the 27th overall pick in the 2006 NFL draft by the Carolina Panthers.

[524] After a 56–40 loss to East Carolina,[525] West's team won three straight, defeating Southern Miss by a margin of 29–26,[526] UAB by a count of 25–9[527] and SMU in a triple-overtime 55–52 shootout.

[569] After losing to East Carolina by a margin of 49–27,[570] the Tigers notched their first win of the Porter era, defeating in-state opponent Middle Tennessee by a score of 24–17.

[658] On December 18, 2014, it was announced that the University of Memphis administration signed Justin Fuente to another contract extension and raise, increasing his annual pay to $1.4 million.

[673] On November 20, 2015, it was reported that the University of Memphis offered another contract extension to Fuente that would've made him the highest paid non-Power Five head coach in the country.

[678] Offensive coordinator Darrell Dickey was named interim head coach for the 2015 Birmingham Bowl,[679] a game the Tigers lost to Auburn by a score of 31–10.

[693] With Riley Ferguson taking over as the team's starting quarterback,[694] Memphis began the Norvell era with a 35–17 victory over FCS opponent Southeast Missouri State on September 3.

[707] In 13 starts in 2016, Riley Ferguson threw for 3,698 yards and broke Paxton Lynch's single-season record with 32 touchdown passes set the previous season.

[708] After the 2016 season, co-offensive coordinator Chip Long left the Tigers to take the same position on Brian Kelly's staff at Notre Dame.

[710] On May 12, 2017, it was announced that the University of Memphis signed Norvell to a one-year contract extension though the 2021 season and gave his assistant coaches raises.

[719] After a 44–31 victory over Football Championship Subdivision opponent Southern Illinois,[720] Norvell's Tigers suffered their first loss of the season in the form of a 40–13 defeat in the rescheduled UCF game.

[729] Memphis accepted a berth in the 2017 Liberty Bowl on their home field, losing the game to Iowa State by a nail biting margin of 21–20.

[758] After 30–27 loss to SMU,[759] In the season's third game, Memphis overcame a 21-point deficit in the third quarter and defeated UCF 50–49 to post the program's largest-ever come from behind victory.

[760][761][762] After a 41–29 win over Temple,[763][764] Silverfield's team lost its second game of the season, a 49–10 blowout loss to rival #7 Cincinnati that was the program's largest margin of defeat since 2011.

[809] After a 59–0 beatdown win over FCS opponent North Alabama,[810] the Memphis Tigers lost the last game of the regular season by a score of 34–31 to SMU.

[828] Memphis accepted a berth in the 2023 Liberty Bowl played on their home field where they defeated Iowa State by a score of 36–26 to cap the program's fourth season of 10+ wins since 2014.

[842] After suffering a 56–44 loss to Navy to open conference play,[843] Silverfield's team reeled off wins of 24–7 over Middle Tennessee,[844] 21–3 over South Florida,[845][846][847] 52–44 over North Texas[848] and 33–28 over Charlotte.