Memphis coaching candidate to know: Charles Huff

Memphis is looking for a new head coach, but they aren’t the only team looking for a new head coach in the American. North Texas, Tulane and South Florida are all looking for new head coaches and a name that will likely be in most of those searches is Charles Huff.

Huff has been around the college game since 2006, but he’s only served as a head coach for the last five seasons. 

The Maryland native got his first head coaching gig in 2021 with Marshall, and he went 32-20 in four seasons. In his final season, he led the Thundering Hurd to a 10-3 record, 7-1 in conference play, and secured a first-place conference finish for the first time since 2014.

In 2022, Huff led the Thundering Herd into South Bend and beat No. 8 Notre Dame 26-21. It was a marquee win for Huff and only the second all-time victory for Marshall over a top-10 opponent.

After winning the Sun Belt in 2024, Huff made the move to Southern Miss, and his team finished the regular season 7-5. The Golden Eagles only won four combined games over the previous two seasons before Huff took over, and they finished 1-11 in 2024. 

Southern Miss led the Sun Belt in passing offense this season, and it averaged almost 30 points per game. The Golden Eagles also led the conference in interceptions with 21, and Huff’s final defense at Marshall in 2024 only allowed 23.1 points per game.

Before becoming a head coach, Huff spent time as an assistant with Penn State, Mississippi State and Alabama. At Penn State, Huff is credited with recruiting and developing running back Saquon Barkley. 

At Alabama, Huff was the primary recruiter for multiple five-stars and was on staff for the 2020 national championship team. That season, Najee Harris ran for 1,466 yards and finished as an All-American and Heisman candidate under Huff.

Huff has a ton of experience at the college level, and he has won at both head coaching stops. He has shown that he can recruit at a high level as an assistant and even put together some impressive recruiting classes at Marshall and Southern Miss.

Huff’s buyout could be something to watch if Memphis is interested in him. His buyout is $2 million dollars if he leaves before March 1, but it drops to $1 million if he leaves before December 8 and drops another $250 thousand after that date.

If Memphis wants Huff to be its next head coach, it will wait until at least Tuesday to make the move. Huff will likely be a hot commodity, and it’d be hard to see any team waiting another week to save $250k.