MEMPHIS – Following that disappointing loss to Tulane, one that put the Tigers in catch-up mode in the AAC, Ryan Silverfield pulled no punches when assessing his team at the halfway point of the season.

4-2 on the year and 1-1 in the American, Silverfield provided honest talk to his team when they reconvened this weekend after Friday night’s loss to the Green Wave.

Not something that’s easy to do but something Silverfield felt he had to do.  

A message his team seemed to take, quite well.

“Some guys. I called them out. I showed them film and it may have hurt some feelings. But we talk about it here, it’s the standards over the feelings every single day of the week. This is the way we’re going to do things. This is how we have to do them. That’s how we have to execute. This is what the effort needs to look like,” Silverfield said. “They shook their heads, said, OK, you’re right. It’s good to talk about, now, can we put into action. If it’s not put into action by the players and our great leadership that we have, then it means nothing. But the players were phenomenal. They said, OK, we got it.”

The Tigers play three of their next four games, on the road beginning Saturday in Birmingham against UAB.