Charles Huff is effectively working to put a fence around the city of Memphis, where Huff was hired last month to take over the University of Memphis football program following the departure of Ryan Silverfield to Arkanasas.

Sources tell FootballScoop that the Tigers are adding up-and-coming young coach Rodney Saulsberry Jr. to the Memphis defensive staff, where Saulsberry Jr. will serve as an analyst. Saulsberry Jr. arrives from Football Championship Subdivision program Austin Peay in Clarksville, Tennessee. 

The addition of the younger Saulsberry also follows Huff’s recent hiring into a high school relations type of role of Rodney Saulsberry, the former Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association (TSSAA) State Championship-winning head coach of Memphis Whitehaven High School. 

The elder Saulsberry had kind of a “godfather” status amongst Memphis’ public schools’ football programs and brings instant credibility from the city of Memphis onto Huff’s inaugural Memphis Tigers staff.

Saulsberry Jr. is a former standout-defensive back under his father at Whitehaven who then played four years at Football Championship Subdivision program Austin Peay, where Saulsberry Jr. had spent the past year as the cornerbacks coach for Jeff Faris, the second-year head coach who led the Govs to a beatdown-upset of MTSU to open last season and finished with seven wins.

In addition to being on staff this past year at Austin Peay, Saulsberry Jr. also has coached under Jon Sumrall for two years at Tulane in 2023-24 and prior to that helped coach defensive backs at his prep alma mater, Whitehaven, following the completion of his collegiate playing career. 

Huff arrives at Memphis after turning Marshall into Sun Belt Conference Champions in 2024 and making Southern Miss a winner of seven games this past season for the first time in nearly a half-decade.

No stranger to coaching in the Volunteer State, Huff is now with his third different collegiate program in Tennessee in his 20-year coaching career. He’s got previous stops in Nashville at both FCS program Tennessee State as well as previously serving on ex-Vanderbilt coach James Franklin’s Commodores staff.

Huff, recently luring Lance Guidry away from Oregon State to reunite from their Marshall days and run the Memphis defense in 2026, is set to make his debut as top Tiger in a Week Zero game at Dan Mullen’s UNLV program Aug. 29, 2026. Memphis’ first home game under Huff will be a week later when it hosts Arkansas State, led by former Tennessee head coach Butch Jones.

The Tigers also have non-conference tilts at Boise State and home against Jason Simpson’s UT-Martin squad before wading into American Conference play.Â