Charles Huff (American football coach)

{{For|the former NFL defensive back|Charles Huff (defensive back)}}

{{Infobox college coach

| name = Charles Huff

| image =

| alt =

| caption =

| current_title = Head coach

| current_team = Southern Miss

| current_conference = Sun Belt

| current_record = 0–0

| contract =

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1983|4|26}}

| birth_place = Denton, Maryland, U.S.

| death_date =

| death_place =

| player_years1 = 2001–2005

| player_team1 = Hampton

| player_positions = Fullback, tight end, guard, center

| coach_years1 = 2006

| coach_team1 = Tennessee State (OL)

| coach_years2 = 2007–2008

| coach_team2 = Tennessee State (TE/{{tooltip|ST|Special teams coach}})

| coach_years3 = 2009

| coach_team3 = Maryland (asst. OL)

| coach_years4 = 2010

| coach_team4 = Hampton (OL/{{tooltip|RGC|Run game coordinator}})

| coach_years5 = 2011

| coach_team5 = Vanderbilt (OQC)

| coach_years6 = 2012

| coach_team6 = Buffalo Bills (asst. RB)

| coach_years7 = 2013

| coach_team7 = Western Michigan (RB)

| coach_years8 = 2014–2017

| coach_team8 = Penn State (RB/{{tooltip|ST|Special teams coordinator}})

| coach_years9 = 2018

| coach_team9 = Mississippi State ({{tooltip|AHC|Assistant head coach}}/{{tooltip|RGC|Running game coordinator}}/RB)

| coach_years10 = 2019–2020

| coach_team10 = Alabama ({{tooltip|AHC|Associate head coach}}/RB)

| coach_years11 = 2021–2024

| coach_team11 = Marshall

| coach_years12 = 2025–present

| coach_team12 = Southern Miss

| overall_record = 32–20

| bowl_record = 1–2

| tournament_record =

| championships = 1 Sun Belt (2024)
1 Sun Belt East Division (2024)

| awards =

| coaching_records =

}}

Charles Huff Jr. (born April 26, 1983) is an American football coach. He is the head football coach at the University of Southern Mississippi, a position he has held since December 8, 2024. Prior to Southern Miss, he was the head coach at Marshall University from 2021 to 2024 and the associate head coach and running backs coach at the University of Alabama. Additionally, he had coaching stints at Mississippi State and Penn State and has gained the reputation of being one of the top recruiters in college football.{{cite web |title=Alabama's Charles Huff becomes nation's No. 1 CFB recruiter |url=https://rolltidewire.usatoday.com/2020/07/01/alabamas-charles-huff-becomes-nations-no-1-cfb-recruiter/ |website=USA Today |date=July 2, 2020 |access-date=September 21, 2020}}

Playing career

Huff played at Hampton University, joining the football team as a walk-on fullback.{{cite web |title=GAME DAY: Alabama's Charles Huff a college coach on the rise |url=https://www.tuscaloosanews.com/news/20190907/game-day-alabamas-charles-huff-college-coach-on-rise |website=Tuscaloosanews.com |access-date=September 21, 2020}} 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.{{cite web |title=Fleck Finalizes Coaching Staff |url=https://wmubroncos.com/news/2013/1/14/205966760.aspx |website=Western Michigan University Athletics |access-date=September 21, 2020}}

=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.{{cite web |title=WMU football assistant coach Charles Huff has left to join Penn State staff |url=https://www.mlive.com/broncos/2014/01/wmu_football_assistant_coach_c.html |website=mlive |date=January 17, 2014 |access-date=September 21, 2020}} 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.{{cite web |title=What makes Alabama's Charles Huff the No. 1 recruiter in college football |url=https://theathletic.com/1974082/2020/08/05/charles-huff-recruiting-alabama-football-assistant-coach/?redirected=1 |website=The Athletic |access-date=September 21, 2020}}

=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.{{cite web |title=Huff finds a good situation in Starkville |url=https://www.djournal.com/sports/huff-finds-a-good-situation-in-starkville/article_e478565b-b285-5ffb-a9d7-27b3f136e1d1.html |website=Daily Journal |date=March 5, 2018 |access-date=September 21, 2020}} In his lone season at Starkville, their running backs ran the ball 253 times, and did not lose a fumble once.{{cite web |title=Mississippi State running backs coach Charles Huff to join Alabama's staff |url=https://www.clarionledger.com/story/sports/college/mississippi-state/2019/01/20/mississippi-state-running-backs-coach-charles-huff-alabama-crimson-tide-football-sec-coaching-msu/2633106002/ |website=Mississippi Clarion Ledger |access-date=September 21, 2020}}

=Alabama=

Huff was named the associate head coach and running backs coach at Alabama in 2019.{{cite web |title=Reports: Alabama set to add Charles Huff to offensive staff |url=https://www.timesfreepress.com/news/sports/college/story/2019/jan/21/reports-alabamset-add-charles-huff-offensive/487038/ |website=Chattanooga Times Free Press |date=January 21, 2019 |access-date=September 21, 2020}} At Alabama, Huff was the position coach for Najee Harris, who was named the 2020 Doak Walker Awardhttps://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/awards/walker.html for the best running back in the nation en route to Alabama's 18th National Championship.https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/boxscores/2021-01-11-alabama.html

=Marshall=

Huff was hired as the head coach at Marshall in 2021, replacing Doc Holliday.{{cite web |title=Sources: Alabama assistant Charles Huff set to be hired as Marshall's new football coach |url=https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/30724338/sources-alabama-assistant-charles-huff-set-hired-marshall-new-football-coach |website=ESPN |date=January 16, 2021 |access-date=January 16, 2021}} 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.{{Cite web|last=Cooper|first=Sam|date=September 10, 2022|title=No. 8 Notre Dame upset 26-21 by Marshall, still winless in Marcus Freeman era|url=https://sports.yahoo.com/no-8-notre-dame-upset-26-21-by-marshall-still-winless-in-marcus-freeman-era-215625994.html|access-date=September 11, 2022|website=Yahoo Sports|language=en}} Huff earned his first bowl win as a head coach in the 2022 Myrtle Beach Bowl against the UConn Huskies 28–14.{{Cite web|last=Walsh|first=David|date=December 19, 2022|title=Marshall builds big first-half lead, holds off UConn for 28-14 victory in Myrtle Beach Bowl|url=https://wvmetronews.com/2022/12/19/marshall-builds-big-first-half-lead-holds-off-uconn-for-28-14-victory-in-myrtle-beach-bowl/|access-date=December 19, 2022|website=WV Metro News|language=en}} In 2024, Huff led the Thundering Herd to their first Sun Belt crown ever and their first conference championship for any league in ten years.

=Southern Miss=

Despite winning the Sun Belt in his final contract year at Marshall, the two parties failed to reach an agreement on an extension leading to Huff's departure. On December 8, 2024, Huff was named the head coach at fellow Sun Belt Conference member, Southern Miss.{{cite web |title=Charles Huff Named 23rd Head Football Coach |url=https://southernmiss.com/news/2024/12/8/charles-huff-named-23rd-head-football-coach |publisher=Southern Miss Golden Eagles |access-date=December 10, 2024 |date=December 8, 2024 }}

Head coaching record

{{CFB Yearly Record Start | type = coach | team = | conf = | bowl = | poll = no }}

{{CFB Yearly Record Subhead

| name = Marshall Thundering Herd

| conf = Conference USA

| startyear = 2021

| endyear = 2021

}}

{{CFB Yearly Record Entry

| championship =

| year = 2021

| name = Marshall

| overall = 7–6

| conference = 5–3

| confstanding = T–2nd (East)

| bowlname = New Orleans

| bowloutcome = L

| ranking = no

| ranking2 = no

}}

{{CFB Yearly Record Subhead

| name = Marshall Thundering Herd

| conf = Sun Belt Conference

| startyear = 2022

| endyear = 2024

}}

{{CFB Yearly Record Entry

| championship =

| year = 2022

| name = Marshall

| overall = 9–4

| conference = 5–3

| confstanding = 3rd {{small|(East)}}

| bowlname = Myrtle Beach

| bowloutcome = W

| ranking = no

| ranking2 = no

}}

{{CFB Yearly Record Entry

| championship =

| year = 2023

| name = Marshall

| overall = 6–7

| conference = 3–5

| confstanding = T–5th {{small|(East)}}

| bowlname = Frisco

| bowloutcome = L

| ranking = no

| ranking2 = no

}}

{{CFB Yearly Record Entry

| championship = conference

| year = 2024

| name = Marshall

| overall = 10–3

| conference = 7–1

| confstanding = 1st {{small|(East)}}

| bowlname = Independence{{efn|name=USM|Huff left for Southern Miss before Marshall's bowl game. Marshall also subsequently withdrew from the bowl game after losing over two dozen players to the transfer portal.|group=record}}

| bowloutcome =

| ranking = no

| ranking2 = no

}}

{{CFB Yearly Record Subtotal

| name = Marshall

| overall = 32–20

| confrecord = 20–12

}}

{{CFB Yearly Record Subhead

| name = Southern Miss Golden Eagles

| conf = Sun Belt Conference

| startyear = 2025

| endyear =

}}

{{CFB Yearly Record Entry

| championship =

| year = 2025

| name = Southern Miss

| overall = 0–0

| conference = 0–0

| confstanding =

| bowlname =

| bowloutcome =

| ranking = no

| ranking2 = no

}}

{{CFB Yearly Record Subtotal

| name = Southern Miss

| overall = 0–0

| confrecord = 0–0

}}

{{CFB Yearly Record End

| overall = 32–20

| bowls = no

| poll = no

| polltype =

| legend = yes

}}

References

External links

{{Twitter|CoachHuff}}
[https://herdzone.com/sports/football/roster/coaches/charles-huff/615 Marshall profile]
[https://rolltide.com/sports/football/roster/coaches/charles-huff/1080 Alabama profile]
[https://hailstate.com/sports/football/roster/coaches/charles-huff/1934 Mississippi State profile]
[https://gopsusports.com/sports/football/roster/coaches/charles-huff/84 Penn State profile]
[https://wmubroncos.com/staff-directory/charles-huff/257 Western Michigan profile]
[https://hamptonpirates.com/sports/football/roster/coaches/charles-huff/189 Hampton profile]