There are 240 days until Memphis football kicks off its 2024 season against North Alabama.

The Tigers are coming off a 10-3 season that was capped off with an impressive win over Iowa State in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl. There will be heightened expectations going into next season as the College Football Playoff expands and one of the 12 spots will be reserved for a Group of Five team.

There's plenty of time, though. The transfer portal reopens in the spring, and you can bet there'll be movement. Early enrollees will arrive on campus and start staking their claim for key roles going into the start of summer practices.

Here are three questions for Memphis heading into the offseason.

What will Jordon Hankins' defense look like?

Defensive coordinator Matt Barnes left for Mississippi State before the bowl game, so coach Ryan Silverfield tapped linebackers coach Jordon Hankins to take over as the interim. And Hankins helped orchestrate a dynamic performance, highlighted by the zero rushing yards the Tigers allowed over the course of the game.

Silverfield answered the first key offseason question when he named Hankins the permanent defensive coordinator on Wednesday. Now Hankins will try to improve a unit that had an up and down season.

The defense struggled down the stretch, even as the offense was able to power Memphis to shootout wins over the likes of North Texas and South Florida. The defense will also lose some key pieces like defensive end Jaylon Allen, linebacker Geoffrey Cantin-Arku and safety Simeon Blair. But Hankins experience with the current players — including first-team All-AAC linebacker Chandler Martin — could help with the continuity in 2024.

What will the rebuilt offensive line look like?

Memphis' offensive line was pretty much a nonstory in 2023 — and that's a good thing. The Tigers got consistent play throughout the season, which helped Blake Watson rush for over 1,000 yards and helped Seth Henigan become the leading passer in Memphis history.

But the line will look different next season. The Tigers lost left tackle Makylan Pounders to Mississippi State, right guard Davion Carter to Texas Tech and center Jacob Likes to the NFL Draft. Backup right tackle Terrance McClain also declared for the draft. Xavier Hill played right tackle for most of the season but filled in at left tackle when Pounders was out, so he'll probably slot in there. Jonah Gambill missed time with injury but was the starting left guard when he was healthy.

As for the rest of the line, look to the transfer portal. Silverfield brought in a slew of transfers across the offensive line to try to plug those holes, so those will be key position battles to watch through spring practices and in to the summer. True freshman Malachi Breland started in the Liberty Bowl at right guard, so he could have an inside track at that spot going into next season.

When the smoke clears, what will the expectations be?

The winter window for the transfer portal may be closed, but there's still plenty of movement ahead during the spring window. That makes it difficult to project what Memphis — or any other team, for that matter — will look like in 2024.

Still, the expectations will be pretty high for the Tigers in the first year of the expanded playoff.

Looking around at the Group of Five landscape at the beginning of 2024, it's tough to see a lot of teams set up better than Memphis. Of the Group of Five teams that finished ahead of Memphis in 2023, only Miami (Ohio) will return its starting quarterback. That includes Tulane and UTSA, who both finished ahead of the Tigers in the American Athletic Conference standings in 2023.

It's still too early for predictions or playoff handicapping, but the rising expectations will certainly be a storyline heading into next season.

More: Why AutoZone Liberty Bowl triumph means more than just a win for Memphis football

Bonus: What jersey number will Seth Henigan wear?

Henigan has changed his jersey number every season he's played football. He wore 14 his freshman year, 5 his sophomore year and 2 his junior year. So what number will be on his back in 2024?

It's not a huge storyline, sure. But Henigan is in line to break most of the Memphis passing records he doesn't already have next season, so Tigers fans will probably remember his final jersey number as much as any other.

One guess? No. 9. Henigan said that was his favorite number in 2022, but it was already taken. Maybe this is the time.

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

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: 3 questions for Memphis football heading into critical offseason