Charles Huff (American football)
Charles Huff Jr. (born April 26, 1983) is an American football coach. He is the head football coach at Marshall University, a position he has held since the 2021 season. Prior to Marshall, he was the associate head coach and running backs coach at the University of Alabama. A coach with stints at Mississippi State and Penn State, he has gained the reputation of being one of the top recruiters in college football.[2]
| Current position | |
|---|---|
| Title | Head coach |
| Team | Marshall |
| Conference | Sun Belt |
| Record | 20–13 |
| Annual salary | $755,000 [1] |
| Biographical details | |
| Born | April 26, 1983 Denton, Maryland, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| 2001–2005 | Hampton |
| Position(s) | Fullback, tight end, guard, center |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 2006 | Tennessee State (OL) |
| 2007–2008 | Tennessee State (TE/ST) |
| 2009 | Maryland (asst. OL) |
| 2010 | Hampton (OL/RGC) |
| 2011 | Vanderbilt (OQC) |
| 2012 | Buffalo Bills (asst. RB) |
| 2013 | Western Michigan (RB) |
| 2014–2017 | Penn State (RB/ST) |
| 2018 | Mississippi State (AHC/RGC/RB) |
| 2019–2020 | Alabama (AHC/RB) |
| 2021–present | Marshall |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 20–13 |
| Bowls | 1–1 |
Playing career
Huff played at Hampton University, joining the football team as a walk-on fullback.[3] In addition to fullback, he also spent time at tight end and guard before being named the starting center. He was named a team captain his senior season in addition to being the starting center.
Coaching career
Huff got his first coaching job at Tennessee State in 2006 working under Tigers offensive coordinator Fred Kaiss, who he played under at Hampton. He was named the tight ends and special teams coach in 2007, and also added football operations duties as well. He left to join the coaching staff at Maryland as the assistant offensive line coach in 2009, before joining his alma mater Hampton in 2010 as the offensive line coach and run game coordinator. He spent 2011 as an offensive quality control coach at Vanderbilt under first-year Commodores head coach and former Maryland offensive coordinator James Franklin. He spent 2012 with the Buffalo Bills as their assistant running backs coach under head coach Chan Gailey before joining the coaching staff at Western Michigan in 2013 as their running backs coach under first year head coach P. J. Fleck.[4]
Penn State
Huff was named the running backs coach and special teams coordinator at Penn State in 2014, reuniting with James Franklin, who was the offensive coordinator at Maryland when Huff was the assistant offensive line coach.[5] During his time at Penn State, he played a crucial role in the recruitment and development of running back Saquon Barkley, who was named a consensus All-American, 2× Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year, and left as one of the program's top running backs of all time.[6]
Mississippi State
Huff joined the coaching staff at Mississippi State in 2018, the first hire of new Bulldogs head coach and former Penn State offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead.[7] In his lone season at Starkville, their running backs ran the ball 253 times, and did not lose a fumble once.[8]
Marshall
Huff was hired as the head coach at Marshall in 2021, replacing Doc Holliday.[10] On September 10, 2022, Huff led Marshall to their second all-time victory over a top-10 opponent after defeating the No. 8-ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish 26–21 in South Bend, Indiana.[11] Huff earned his first bowl win as a head coach in the 2022 Myrtle Beach Bowl against the UConn Huskies 28–14.[12]
Head coaching record
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marshall Thundering Herd (Conference USA) (2021) | |||||||||
| 2021 | Marshall | 7–6 | 5–3 | T–2nd (East) | L New Orleans | ||||
| Marshall Thundering Herd (Sun Belt Conference) (2022–present) | |||||||||
| 2022 | Marshall | 9–4 | 5–3 | 3rd (East) | W Myrtle Beach | ||||
| 2023 | Marshall | 4–3 | 1–2 | (East) | |||||
| Marshall: | 20–13 | 11–8 | |||||||
| Total: | 20–13 | ||||||||
References
- "Marshall BOG approves contract for new football coach". West Virginia Metro News. 18 January 2021. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
- "Alabama's Charles Huff becomes nation's No. 1 CFB recruiter". USA Today. 2 July 2020. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
- "GAME DAY: Alabama's Charles Huff a college coach on the rise". Tuscaloosanews.com. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
- "Fleck Finalizes Coaching Staff". Western Michigan University Athletics. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
- "WMU football assistant coach Charles Huff has left to join Penn State staff". mlive. 17 January 2014. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
- "What makes Alabama's Charles Huff the No. 1 recruiter in college football". The Athletic. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
- "Huff finds a good situation in Starkville". Daily Journal. 5 March 2018. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
- "Mississippi State running backs coach Charles Huff to join Alabama's staff". Mississippi Clarion Ledger. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
- "Reports: Alabama set to add Charles Huff to offensive staff". Chattanooga Times Free Press. 21 January 2019. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
- "Sources: Alabama assistant Charles Huff set to be hired as Marshall's new football coach". ESPN. 16 January 2021. Retrieved 16 January 2021.
- Cooper, Sam (2022-09-10). "No. 8 Notre Dame upset 26-21 by Marshall, still winless in Marcus Freeman era". Yahoo Sports. Retrieved 2022-09-11.
- Walsh, David (2022-12-19). "Marshall builds big first-half lead, holds off UConn for 28-14 victory in Myrtle Beach Bowl". WV Metro News. Retrieved 2022-12-19.