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What Mike Montgomery and Maarten Woudsma said at American Conference Kickoff:
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- What Mike Montgomery and Maarten Woudsma said at American Conference Kickoff:
(What Mike Montgomery and Maarten Woudsma)
The American Conference spent Thursday and Friday holding its media day event, the 2026 American Conference Kickoff, in St. Petersburg, Florida. Charles Huff took linebacker Mike Montgomery and offensive lineman Maarten Woudsma with him to represent the program.
The event was broadcast on ESPN+, and it was split between a "podium broadcast" and a "main broadcast" that served as more of a studio show.
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Montgomery and Woudsma were interviewed on set by ESPN's Erin Summers, and they answered questions about multiple topics for the upcoming season.
Why Memphis ?
With both players joining the team via the transfer portal, they were asked why they chose Memphis. Montgomery played for Huff at Southern Miss , and he said that the decision was an easy one to make.
"Simple," Montgomery said. "Coach Huff. I feel like he's the type of person I want to be when I get older, just in terms of how he demands greatness each and every day from everybody."
Montgomery talked more about his relationship with Huff, and how he pushes his players to be their best every day.
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"He demands greatness, and he pushes you each and every day," Montgomery said. "He's the same person every day. Every day he wants you to get better, and that's just something that drives me as a player. Because, when I play, I want to be playing for somebody that I care about."
Woudsma joined the Tigers after playing for Old Dominion, and he said that he was looking for something different in his senior year of football. He added that he felt the energy from the Memphis program, and Huff made it an easy decision after he laid out his plans for the program.
"As soon as I stepped foot in Memphis, I just felt the love from the fans, and just the air was different in Memphis, I guess you could say," Woudsma said. "Coach Huff, he did a good job of just, not even convincing me, like all he had to do was talk to me, and I just felt it by the way he spoke and just how confident he was in this team and his abilities to bring this team to a whole other level."
Team with a lot of new faces:
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The biggest topic for the Tigers at the event was the 71 new players added to the roster, and both players were asked about the changes.
Montgomery was asked specifically about the role the 20 Southern Miss transfers will play with all of the new faces, and he said it will help the team to have those guys around who are more familiar with the coaching staff.
"I feel like it brings us balance," Montgomery said. "It gives the players that don't know someone to talk to, somewhere to go when they don't know what to do, or don't know what to say or don't know how to handle a certain situation. When the coach gets hard on you, like knowing that's okay, there's 20 different players in the locker room that knows it's coming from love."
Huff compared the Southern Miss transfers to a senior class because they will be looked on to be the leaders and set the tone regardless of their class, and it appears Montgomery is ready to take on that responsibility.
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Woudsma was asked about the offensive line and how they will operate with new players and a quarterback battle entering the season. The offensive lineman was confident about the group and said that they're training to be prepared no matter who starts at any position.
"A big thing for this summer, and even the past semester, was really just building a level of trust and continuity between the offensive line," Woudsma said. "So even if we have somebody coming in or stepping in for somebody else. There's no drop-off between how we're communicating, how we're blocking, or combination blocks. There's some continuity between everything, no matter who's in."
Defensive coordinator Lance Guidry:
The linebacker was asked about new offensive coordinator Lance Guidry, and it was clear that he has a great relationship with his new coach. He added that the group will be up-tempo and will attack opposing offenses.
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"I feel like his foundation is talk, run, hit," Montgomery said. "We're going to stop the run. We're going to pressure the quarterback, and he's going to make sure that he gets his all from his players."
Montgomery said that Guidry has the energy that makes him think he could still participate in a few plays, and that he brings the "Memphis mentality" to the way he coaches.
"Very animated, very energetic," Montgomery said. "As a player, you love playing for somebody that you can relate to, that you want to go out there and play for."
