Stepping in for Ryan Silverfield, Memphis head coach Charles Huff is already making waves. He kicked off spring practice by completely banning music on the field, turning heads by demanding a focused, Navy SEAL-style approach. To reinforce this no-nonsense mindset for his 7-5 Tigers, Huff called in heavyweight consultant Jimbo Fisher.

Jimbo Fisher visited Memphis football practice on April 13, 2026. The former Florida State and Texas A&M coach spent the whole day with the players and coaches, giving advice and sharing his experience during spring practice. While he was there, Fisher worked mainly with the offense and also helped review film of recruits.

Fisher’s role was to give a fresh perspective and help Huff understand what the team is doing well and what can be improved. This was an exciting moment for Jimbo Fisher, as he hadn’t been on the field since Texas A&M fired him after a 5-7 record in 2023, paying him a hefty buyout of $75 million.

But that’s how this meetup happened, as Huff explains how he convinced Jimbo Fisher to visit the Memphis facility.

“Coach Fisher and he are obviously from the same area in West Virginia, coached together, and coached against each other for a long time,” Huff told the media, clarifying their mutual connection to Nick Saban. “So I had a lot of respect for what he’s done. I reached out to him; he’s sitting at home on the farm with $75 million. I said, ‘Man, you miss the ball?’ He said, ‘Some days.’ ‘I said, Why don’t you come up for a day and kind of put some eyes on things?, and he was more than willing, so I couldn’t be more appreciative.”

Huff has worked before with coaches like Charlie Strong and Steve Sarkisian under Nick Saban at Alabama, but he has never worked directly with Fisher. Still, Fisher and Saban coached together at LSU, so there is a connection between them. On top of it, there’s a solid reason to get Fisher in the spring practice, as he has had a very successful career overall. He won a national championship in 2013 with Florida State and has a strong record of 128-48.

So, just one or two bad seasons do not mean he is a bad coach. Every coach can have some tough years, but that doesn’t change the fact that Fisher is a remarkable leader. He did take various measures to save Texas A&M from getting distracted. In 2018, he stopped playing loud music during practice. Jimbo Fisher did this because he felt the music was distracting. Players could not hear the coaches clearly when music was playing.

Something that even Charles Huff did with his program to align his players’ mindsets. As spring practice began, one of the first changes he made was turning off music when players stepped onto the field. Huff said he did this because he believed in a military-style approach. He felt players should prepare in a serious way, just like Navy SEALs do before a mission.

Now, it’s pretty clear why he was Huff’s first choice. But Jimbo Fisher is not the only one whom Huff trusted to develop his players’ mindset; he got other coaches too on campus.

Charles Huff is bringing coaches to develop his team’s mindset

But Jimbo Fisher is not the first experienced coach that Charles Huff has invited to help the team. Earlier, former Texas coach Charlie Strong also came to watch practice and give advice. On top of it, Huff also went to Texas to meet Steve Sarkisian and learn from him and his coaching staff. He is trying to learn from different coaches to improve himself.

Overall, Huff believes that not just players, but coaches should also keep learning and getting better all the time.

“We talk to the players all the time about improving and working on your craft,” Huff said. “(Fisher) was here all day; he was really here to help me. I’ve been a head coach for five or six years, but I’m not a veteran. So I wanted to get fresh eyes on what we’re doing. We talk to the players all the time about, ‘You’ve got to work to improve your craft.’ Coaches got to do it, too. So we had him here today.”

So, with all these new tricks that Huff is implementing this offseason, it will be interesting to see how his first season with Memphis turns out for him.