What Charles Huff said ahead of Friday’s game against Tulane

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Charles Huff met with the media on Tuesday to talk about the victory over UAB and the upcoming game against Tulane. The Tigers beat the Blazers 38-13 on Saturday to win the Battle for the Bones and improve to 5-1 on the year.

Last week, Huff was asked about his favorite barbecue spot in the city, and he said that his favorite spot was whoever gave his team an NIL deal. He was asked about it again on Tuesday and said his favorite barbecue spot in the city was Corky’s.

Huff spent a lot of time talking about this week’s opponent and the game being played on Friday instead of Saturday. He said he doesn’t worry much about when his team plays because he knows he has no control over it and it’s an opportunity for the conference to get more games on television.

Here’s what Huff said to the media on Tuesday.

Playing Tulane:

Huff spoke highly about Tulane and added that even though they made a change at head coach, they still have the championship DNA in the building after winning the conference and making the College Football Playoffs last year. The Green Wave beat North Texas in the conference championship game before losing to Ole Miss in the first round of the CFP.

“Obviously, this upcoming Friday, a huge opportunity and challenge for us,” Huff said. “We get an opportunity to compete against the defending American Conference champions. We get a chance to compete against a College Football Playoff team. I fully understand new team, new coaching staff. I get that, but there is still an aura, or a DNA, that is in their building.”

Memphis’ defense:

The defense has looked shaky at times for Huff’s team, and he described the team as playing bend but don’t break football.

“We can’t stop anybody in the middle of the field,” Huff said.

He joked with the media that his team will give up 80 yards but sure up in the red zone and create a takeaway. He said that the defense has great players and are great in certain situations, but they’ve got to do a better job all around.

Learning from Nick Saban:

Huff was asked if he has seen the first episode of the Nick Saban documentary after working with the head coach, and he said he hadn’t seen it yet but was planning on watching it soon. While he hasn’t seen the documentary yet, he said that he took a ton from Nick Saban and models his coaching after the great college football coach.

“I do accredit a lot of my process to the process,” Huff said. “I think it’s changed a little bit. I think you have to change a little bit. I think there are some coaches that try to leave there and try to bake grandma’s cake the exact way grandma made it, and it doesn’t work because you have to be yourself.”

Huff is clearly himself, but you can see some of the Saban tendencies in him on the field and when speaking to the media.

Former players coming back:

Huff was asked about bringing former players back to practice and games, and Huff said that former players have been around. He said that while players have come back, you rarely will see it. 

He wants to bring back player to thank them for what they’ve done, instead of bringing them back to put them on social media or ask for donations.

“When I first got here, that was one of my missions, and I have a different philosophy,” Huff said. “A lot of times, we ask these guys, and ladies in different spots, to come back, and we stick our hand out. Or, we ask them to come back, and we model them around like, ‘look who’s back. Come support and donate because so and so is back.’ I did not want to do that. I wanted to bring them back for the pure reason of they built this place, and the shoulders I’m standing on is because of the things they’ve done. So, I’ve asked multiple guys to come back in secrecy. I’ve had multiple guys come to practice because I think it’s a little disrespectful when you ask someone to come back and stick a camera in their face or ask or stick a hand out and say ‘hey can you donate.”

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