Charles Huff accepts head football coach job at Southern Miss

Marshall’s Charles Huff is making an intra-conference move and taking over as the next head coach at Southern Miss. Huff went 32-20 in four seasons with the Herd, including a 10-3 record in 2024 that culminated with a dominating win over Louisiana in the Sun Belt Championship game on Saturday.

“As we started this search, we were focused on finding a dynamic leader who could get our program back to competing for championships,” said AD Jeremy McClain. “Charles Huff has proven that he is a winner who can build a championship culture within the Sun Belt. We look forward to supporting him in our journey To The Top!

Huff is a Maryland-native who played at Hampton and then spent many years building his impressive coaching resume. Among his previous stops are Penn State (2014-17), Mississippi State (2018) and Alabama (2019-20), serving as assistant head coach at the latter two before getting the Marshall job in 2021. He won a national championship with Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide in 2020.

“My family and I could not be any happier to begin our journey in Hattiesburg as we look to continue the rich and storied history of Southern Miss football,” said Huff. “Our goal will be to build a program that can compete at the highest level and have our fan base enjoy the ability to return to bowl games on a consistent basis. I have to thank President Dr. Joe Paul, along with AD Jeremy McClain, in showing their faith in me and this staff with this tremendous opportunity and I can’t wait to hit the ground running in making this program something that we can all be proud.”

Huff replaces Will Hall, who went just 14-30 in two and a half seasons at the helm. The Eagles were just 1-11 (0-8 SBC) this year, including a 37-3 loss to Huff’s Thundering Herd in November (Southern Miss was coached by Reed Stringer for the last five games).

credit to Southern Miss Athletics for the image