Why one coach at Ryan Silverfield's alma mater is rooting against him in Memphis-SMU game

There's a strange dynamic related to Memphis football this week, and it's between Marty Favret, the head football coach at Hampden-Sydney College, and his offensive coordinator, Lindell Stone.

It's not because of anything Stone did. Favret is finishing up a few things around the office before he retires after 24 years as the Hampden-Sydney coach, and he wants Stone to replace him. That would make their rift this week even more pronounced, because, well, they've got opposite rooting interests on Saturday when Memphis faces SMU at Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium (11 a.m., ESPN2).

Favret has coached at Division III Hampden-Sydney, located about 70 miles southwest of Richmond, Virginia, since the 2000 season. It means he was sitting in the head coach's office when a 19-year-old college student named Ryan Silverfield poked his head through the door and asked if he could join the coaching staff.

Silverfield, now the Memphis coach, used that coaching experience at Hampden-Sydney to springboard his coaching career. He and Favret still talk regularly, and Favret tries to watch as many Memphis games as he can. He even wears a Memphis Tigers jacket Silverfield gifted him around the facility every once in a while.

More: Memphis football coach Ryan Silverfield on SMU game: 'There's always something to prove'

Stone is definitely not a Memphis fan. He knows who Silverfield is and, as a young coach, he looks up to him and everything he's done since leaving Hampden-Sydney. But when Memphis hosts SMU this weekend, Stone will be decidedly and unabashedly rooting against Silverfield.

He's got a good reason — his brother is Preston Stone, the Mustangs' star quarterback.

"That's a unique one," Silverfield said. "I had no idea."

Hampden-Sydney's season ended last week, so things have actually worked out for Stone and Favret to be able to watch the game on Saturday. And there might be a friendly wager on the line.

"We both know where our allegiances are at for this week," Lindell Stone said.

Lindell played quarterback at Virginia for four years before turning to coaching and joining Favret's staff at Hampden-Sydney in 2021. He impressed Favret so much that Favret turned play-calling duties over to him last season, the first time he'd relinquished that since he got to Hampden-Sydney. And Favret, who coached his last game on Nov. 11, is recommending Stone as his replacement.

"Very, very sharp, young, offensive mind," Favret said. "I think he's going to go as high as he wants to go. I mean, he's got the kind of Sean McVay type brain and work ethic. I called plays here for 22 years and then passed the torch to him last year, which just shows how much confidence I have in him."

Stone has two younger brothers — Preston, the SMU quarterback, and Parker, who's a graduate assistant at SMU under head coach Rhett Lashlee. Favret met Preston earlier this year when he visited his brother at Hampden-Sydney during spring break and has been impressed with him throughout his career at SMU. But Favret isn't exactly rooting for him this week.

Favret and Lindell are still being cordial this week — for now. The winner of the SMU-Memphis game will have an inside track on reaching the AAC title game, so the stakes are sky-high.

SMU is joining the ACC after this season and Favret is retiring, so it's probably safe to say Saturday will be the last time Hampden-Sydney is this invested in a Memphis-SMU game. The conference realignment move at least takes away the possibility that Silverfield would have to be at odds with his alma mater if Stone gets elevated to head coach.

"It's probably best SMU's moving out of the conference," Silverfield said. "Because I'm always going to want to root for Hampden-Sydney."

Reach sports writer Jonah Dylan at jonah.dylan@commercialappeal.com or on Twitter @thejonahdylan.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Memphis football vs. SMU preview: Ryan Silverfield alma mater is torn