Memphis opens American Conference play Saturday at Charlotte, and on paper it looks like a mismatch. The Tigers are 3-1 in Charles Huff's first season, and the 49ers are 0-4.
The recent history between the two programs suggests otherwise. Memphis and Charlotte have met twice since the 49ers joined the American in 2023, and both games went to the wire. The Tigers won 44-38 in overtime in Charlotte in 2023, then escaped with a 33-28 win in Memphis in 2024 on a Seth Henigan touchdown pass to Roc Taylor with 31 seconds left. Two wins by a combined 11 points.
Huff has no plans to show that tape to his team. When the first-year Tigers leader was asked this week why the previous Memphis film against Charlotte isn't part of the plan, he gave an answer that has since made the rounds on social media.
"I don't think a man would show his new wife his ex-wife's picture," Huff shared.
Those games belong to Ryan Silverfield's Memphis teams. Memphis hired Huff last December to replace Silverfield after one season at Southern Miss, where Huff went 7-5 and got the Golden Eagles back to a bowl game after a four-year drought. Before that, he spent four years at Marshall, going 32-20 and winning the 2024 Sun Belt championship. His 2021 Marshall team also beat Charlotte, 49-28.
New head coach, new staff, new roster, new schemes. What a different Memphis team did against a different Charlotte team two and three years ago doesn't tell Huff's players much about Saturday.
The other sideline has changed, too. Both of those Memphis wins came against Biff Poggi's Charlotte teams. Charlotte fired Poggi after the 2024 season and hired Tim Albin away from Ohio, where Albin went 33-19 in four seasons and won the 2024 MAC title with a 38-3 win over Miami (Ohio). Albin's first year in Charlotte ended 1-11 with no wins in league play, and he's now in year two with coordinators Todd Fitch and Nate Faanes also back for a second season.
Memphis has wins over UNLV (27-21), Arkansas State (42-24) and UT Martin (45-21) this fall, with the lone loss coming 38-20 at Boise State.
Charlotte's 0-4 start includes a 43-41 triple-overtime loss to The Citadel, a 41-9 loss at Ole Miss, a 26-21 loss at App State and a home loss to Louisiana last weekend. Huff pointed to those margins when making the case for the 49ers.
"You're not talking about a team that just can't field a team and just 66-0," Huff said. "You're talking about a team, you look at the scoreboard against App State it's a one score game."
Plenty of first-year staffs lean on the previous regime's tape as a shortcut in conference play. Huff is building his own library, and that means Saturday's scouting report is all about the 2026 teams.
Memphis and Charlotte kick off at 3:30 p.m. EST Saturday on ESPN+ from Jerry Richardson Stadium.
Stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.
“i don’t think a man would show his new wife his ex wifes picture”
— Devin Walker (@Devin_Walker2) September 29, 2026
the memphis average margin of victory vs. charlotte is 5 points 👀
coach huff on why the old film vs charlotte isn’t in play this week 🔊 pic.twitter.com/3n2WY2V3NL