Memphis ISD announced on Tuesday, Aug. 11, that the Cyclones’ 2026 football season will look a little different.
According to a social media post from the school district, Memphis doesn’t have enough players to fill out a full roster for the upcoming campaign.
“Due to a lack of numbers for a full squad, our standard football season has been officially cancelled. However, we are not letting the gridiron go cold. We are shifting gears completely and hitting the field to play Outlaw 6-man football instead! Get ready for an incredibly fast, high-scoring, and electric styler of football. It is going to be a wild season, and we need our fans in the stands louder than ever” the social media post read.
The Cyclones were set to compete in District 5-2A Division II along with Clarendon, Quanah, Wellington, Wheeler and Shamrock, but will instead play an “outlaw” six-man schedule, meaning the team will play an independent schedule separate from the UIL.
As a result, teams who were set to compete against Memphis in 2026 will now be on the hunt for new opponents to fill the open slot.
“We’re obviously going to try to fill, maybe not necessarily that date, but our previous open date to try to give our kids an opportunity to play another game,” Wheeler head coach Matt Hoover said.
“It’s unfortunate, but sometimes it is what it is, and there’s nothing we can do about it. I hate it mostly for the Memphis kids because, I mean, they’re going to try to play some type of football this year, but it’s going to be hard to find, at this point, games for them to be able to play, too. It’s a bad deal, but we’re going try our best to find a football game and move on.”
District 5-2A Division II hasn’t decided how the change will impact the league’s 2026 season, but Hoover said that district officials are set to meet on Thursday, Aug. 13, to determine an outcome.
“We are actually the district chair,” Hoover said. “We have our normal meeting tomorrow, so we’ll probably discuss all of that and try to figure out a resolution that helps benefit all of us.”
Head coach David Jurado’s team finished 2-8 in 2025, earning wins against Crosbyton and Ralls.
Memphis reported a student enrollment count of 116 to the UIL in October 2025 as part of UIL Realignment.
While the Cyclones haven’t revealed their updated schedule for the 2026 season, the school district’s social media post noted that more information is “coming soon”.
This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Memphis pivots 2026 football season to ‘outlaw’ six-man schedule
Reporting by Randall Sweet, Amarillo Globe-News / Amarillo Globe-News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Randall Sweet, Amarillo Globe-News | USA TODAY Network
