Earlier this week, Memphis named former Southern Mississippi head coach Charles Huff its new head football coach.
Huff, the 26th head coach in Memphis football history, arrives after transforming Southern Miss from a 1-11 team in 2024 to a 7-5, Bowl eligible team in just one season, one of the biggest turnarounds in FBS this season.
That type of success is why Memphis was so excited to snag Huff as the Tigers new head coach.
“I am excited to welcome Charles Huff to the University of Memphis as our next head football coach,” said University of Memphis President, Dr. Bill Hardgrave, in a statement. “As a proven winner who knows how to build a championship team, Charles brings a strong blend of on-field success, recruiting excellence and player development.”
On-field success and player development are just two of the areas that Huff has exceled at during his 20+ years of coaching.
Under his leadership, nine Southern Miss Golden Eagles earned All-Sun Belt Conference honors with J’Mond Tapp (defensive lineman), Chris Jones (linebacker) and Josh Moten (defensive back) all earning First Team nods.
Huff played collegiately at HBCU Hampton University, where he served as a team captain in his senior year. After graduating, he began his coaching career as a graduate assistant for the Pirates and then moved on to another HBCU, Tennessee State, from 2006 – 2008. From there he went to Maryland in 2009, back to Hampton for a year and then served as the offensive quality control coach for James Franklin at Vanderbilt in 2011.
He went to the NFL for a year with the Bills before returning to the college ranks at Western Michigan in 2013. A year later he moved to Happy Valley (2014 – 2017), where he helped recruit Saquon Barkley to the Nittany Lions. After stops at Mississippi St and Alabama under Nick Saban, Huff got his first head coaching job at Marshall in 2021.
At Marshall (2011 – 2014), Huff exceled, posting a 32-20 record and leading the Herd to the Sun Belt title in 2024. He also led Marshall to a huge win over no.8 Notre Dame in 2022, the program’s first win over a Top-10 team since 2003, and became the only Marshall head coach in FBS history to lead the team to a bowl game in each of their first four seasons.
Now, a few weeks after turning the fortunes around for Southern Miss., Huff lands back in Tennessee at Memphis, taking over for Ryan Silverfield, who became the new head coach at Arkansas.
“My family and I are so fired up about this opportunity,” said Huff. “The city of Memphis, the leadership at the University and the level of consistency the football program has had over the recent years is incredible. I would like to thank University President Dr. Bill Hardgrave, Athletics Director Dr. Ed Scott, and their entire team who has instilled their faith in me to lead this outstanding program. To the city of Memphis and Tiger Nation, it’s time to STAND UP! To the players and administration, it’s go time!”
