A former Memphis football player has been accused of sharing the team’s playbook with an opponent before the two schools played one another last year, but American Conference commissioner Tim Pernetti believes the story has been blown out of proportion.
TigerSportsReport, which is part of the On3 network, reported last week that former Memphis safety Tahj Ra-El shared some of Memphis’ defensive playbook with UTSA before the two teams played on Nov. 2 last year. UTSA won the game 44-36.
Then on Thursday, TigerSportsReport obtained a screenshot that claimed to show direct messages that were exchanged between Ra-El and UTSA quarterback Owen McCown. The messages featured a photo of what appeared to be a playbook and Ra-El telling McCown “that’s all the signals.”
Ra-El also appeared to tell McCown that one of Memphis’ players was injured.
REPORT: @On3Memphis has obtained direct messages of former Memphis DB Tahj Ra-El sending UTSA QB Owen McCown the Tigers' playbook before their game💀
— On3 (@On3sports) July 24, 2025
The Roadrunners won 44-36.https://t.co/h7iD6N0nWj pic.twitter.com/EesFEqzbGG
McCown threw for threw for 280 yards and 4 touchdowns in UTSA’s win over Memphis, which was nationally ranked at the time.
Ra-El transferred to Purdue this offseason. There were reports that he had left Memphis last October, but TigerSportsReport was told Ra-El was dismissed by the Tigers.
On Friday, Pernetti told reporters that he believes the story about the leaked playbook has been “sensationalized.”
“We’re aware of it and we’re supporting the schools in it, but what I can tell you is there’s really not much to this story. I think a lot of it has been sensationalized. Some of it, I think quite frankly, is clickbait,” Pernetti said.
American Conference Commissioner Tim Pernetti on the report of the Memphis playbook being leaked to UTSA: “I think a lot of it has been sensationalized and some of it quite frankly is clickbait” pic.twitter.com/WqX6oWfyxQ
— JJ Perez (@theJJPerez) July 25, 2025
If Ra-El was, indeed, dismissed from Memphis, it is not hard to believe that he would have had an axe to grind with the team. That makes it more plausible that he shared sensitive information with an opposing player, especially if he was not even playing for the Tigers at the time.
