Tiger Nation,
With the regular season behind us and our ninth-consecutive bowl game on the horizon, I wanted to take the opportunity to reach out to you, our fans, and provide some perspective on our football program. As Coach Silverfield stated recently, bowl eligibility is our minimum standard. But he, I and everyone in the Memphis Football family are not striving for minimum standards. To be clear, our shared goal and expectation remain for Memphis to be the top program in our conference and compete annually on the national stage.
We have real, tangible reasons to be optimistic about next year and the future of our program under Coach Silverfield’s leadership. We have a strong core group of returning players at key positions. We have a demonstrated track record of strong recruiting and expect that momentum to continue. Perhaps most importantly, our players truly care and never give up. This was evidenced to me by how clearly painful each loss was in the locker room after games, especially this last one at SMU. The special young men in this program believe in Coach Silverfield, his staff and each other.
While we are all proud to be at a place where we have reached our ninth-straight bowl game, we know that “just okay” is not okay. While we all watched games where we were incredibly close to additional victories, we know that close is not good enough. I am confident that Coach Silverfield will critically assess himself and his program and identify and make the specific necessary adjustments to turn those close losses into victories. Our administrative leadership team and I have already begun discussions with Coach Silverfield on how we can best continue to support him and his program moving forward as well.
We know we are at a crucial time for our program and recognize the urgent need to return to competing for championships. Having been on the staff for seven of the nine bowl trips, Coach Silverfield understands the fabric of Memphis Football and its importance to our City and our fans. We all anticipate and expect a special year in 2023, and we need you and our City to continue to embrace and support that expectation as well.
Thank you for your dedicated support and passion for Memphis Football. Let’s get a bowl game victory and look forward to signing day, spring ball and next season together!
Laird Veatch |
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