STARTING AT THE MOUNTAIN TOP
Ivory started his Memphis football career at the pinnacle, with three appearances in 2019, including the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic.
“That year was so big in a lot of ways,” he says. “We had so many leaders on that team, so many guys that just stood up and everyone bought into what we needed to do to get a championship.”
One of those leaders was Damonte Coxie, who had been setting receiving records at Memphis since joining the team in 2017.
His freshman year, Ivory said he watched everything Coxie did, even where we sat at position meetings.
“Coming in behind (Coxie), just seeing how he had this edge to him, to just go hard every play, never try to have somebody outdo him,” he said. “I used to come into the receiver room and sit in the chair right beside him. So, I was basically wherever he was, just listening, trying to get everything right for when it's my time.”
In 2020, Ivory’s time would come sooner than he expected.