Topic: Rate Huff

[MidlandKnight]

I thought the crowd yesterday, to start the game at least, was much better than I expected; one of the best in a while for Thanksgiving weekend.  And they were in the game even longer than the team was, don't think we gave up as fans as quickly as the team did.

Agree... Yesterday was a good crowd for Thanksgiving and maybe the AD department learned a little about the need for promotion. Also, agree that the players and coaches quit way before the fans did. Another lesson for Huff, clearly the coaches had a different game plan once wells went down... Problem was the message sent to the players is we have no confidence in Zban and have given up.

[GreenWhite]

The announcers a couple of times mentioned the fans doing We Are Marshall. They also mentioned the enthusiasm the fans showed. Kudos to those who went to the game.

[DJdaHERDfan]

On a 1-10 scale

He gets a 4

[MUther]

I will give him a pass this year. I think we all overrated the talent level of the team. Maybe that is one the reasons Doc couldn't win as many conference championship, he couldn't recruit the players?

Let's see what Huff does with recruiting, That will make him or break him. beau42m has been posting all last week that Huff will be announced as the new coach at VA Tech on Monday afternoon so let's see what happens. ;D

I think we underrated the people that didn't return.  Some veteran receivers left that we really needed, Knox with Ali would have been ridiculous 1, 2 punch.  Couple of our best linemen gone and we lost two of our best defensive guys.  Just like the year Peneva left and we underestimated his impact on the basketball team in 2019 when we didn't have him, we underestimated losing 5-6 of our best players.  I think it really made a difference.  By season's end it didn't matter as much but their leadership all year could have gotten things developed a lot faster and got us better results much earlier. 

I would have liked to beat WKU and think we would have if we had the ability to keep sustaining drives and keep their O off the field.  But you lose a starting QB and this kind of thing happens.  However I LOVED that we kicked FAU in the nuts and burned Charlotte to the ground.  There were salvageable moments from the season that we can build on.  ECU probably hurts the most as we know we had that game won and gave it away.

[The E-Man]

I rate Huff a 7.   We had a great win against Navy to start the year and I had said pre-season win that one and we could have a special year.  He showed inexperience in several games but also had the team ready to play on the road against NT, Charlotte and FAU.  He lost half of our home games and that won?t cut it if you want to grow the fan base.

I am a wait and see guy on Huff.  We could have done way worse but also not convinced he is going to be a great coach.

Well despite you not liking coach Huff at least you're honest about your assessment as a coach. One thing coach Huff should do is get rid of our kicking game coach. We have seen some brilliant kickoff returns, but remember the ECU game, yesterday we had an on sidekick to the other side and didn't have any defenders there? I've never seen an onside kick were we kicked away from our defenders. We definitely need a punter and a strong leg accurate field goal kicker.

[muherd34]

Personality, winning the press conference and recruiting on paper= A(90%)

Season Goals: Bowl Eligibility, Winning Record, East Title, Conference Championship, Bowl Win and Ny6 Bowl. = F(33%).


So I can't fully rate him until after Bowl game but right now I have him. 6/10.  So slightly above average.  No worse/no better than Doc in 10th year.   However this is his first year and I think he will grow with his players and decision making ability. I Like Huff and hope we as a fanbase give him time to put his team together.

[MicDrass1]

We beat Cinci like a drum with Fickell.  Shortly after he destroyed us.  Good recruiting works.  We need it.  And no more undersized light slow short players.  We are small weak and slow.

[bighat]

I'd give him a five on coaching and 8 on talking.

[The E-Man]

I'd have to give coach Huff an 8 .. Huff has reached out to Herd fans that's something we were missing from our previous coach for 11 years. The only time Doc spent time in Huntington was at the Shewey. As far as coaching, Huff made mistakes but corrected them as he went along. Other than yesterday the games we got beat were very winnable.

[Herdalum83]

I'll give Huff a C+ right now with an opportunity to get a B- minus depending on who we draw in the bowl and how we play in it.

Obviously, there were some green coaching decisions that cost us a couple of close games.

But, The team was prepared to play. All but the MTSU game we looked prepared and ready for the ball game at the get-go. Good game plans going into most games, including yesterday's WKU game.

We also made some in-game and in-season adjustments that I thought reflected well on Huff and his staff's ability to adjust to things they were seeing our team do and things they saw the other team do.

Energy. I love Coach Huff's energy and attitude and believe it is the energy and attitude we need on our sidelines if we are to ever reach the peak of the late 90s -early 2000s again. Huff might not be that guy, that remains to be seen, but whoever that guy is will have this kind of energy.

There are things I didn't like from Coach Huff as well. The biggest one of those and it was something that worried me from the onset was the choice to retain Tim Cramsey. Cramsey is just in over his head at this level. His offense is only ever going to work when his teams have talent that far exceeds that of the opponent. He doesn't understand flow or rhythm it doesn't seem like and several times this year I feel like his play-calling not only killed offensive momentum but hurt our defense as well by putting them in tough spots.

I also wasn't a big fan of Huff's clock management in a lot of situations especially early in the season. But, I do feel this mostly improved later in the year.

I would probably rate Coach Huff much more harshly if this was HIS TEAM. But, it wasn't, this is Doc's team and this is also a team that was in turmoil when Huff came in. A group that was brawling with each other in the parking lot. It does seem as if Huff has been able to get them to shed their differences and come together. They absolutely seem more united than they did a year ago, as evident by the entire team coming out to check on their injured teammate yesterday.

I think some of the issues we had this season were talent-related. We have a decent team and some really talented players such as Ali. But, we have some obvious talent gaps at key positions as well, Huff deserves the opportunity to get a recruiting class or two in here to try and fill those talent gaps. Also, I think some of our issues were also culture-related. Doc's team last year as mentioned had some issues culturally that needed to be addressed and fixed. Some of that includes learning how to win under pressure, and a whole new culture can't be established in a single offseason. Coach Huff made some clock management mistakes, but I think we do not have an MTSU game or do we lose both ECU and App State with a Huff recruited and a Huff-built culture even with the clock management mistakes.

Overall the jury is still out on Huff. Anyone fully convinced he's the guy after 12 games I think is just trying to be purposefully optimisitc. But, anyone ready to totally write Huff off as no better than Doc after 12 games is just as delusional the other direction. The fact is right now, we just don't have a big enough sample size. I want to see what Marshall looks like after a recruiting class or two from Huff before I judge too harshly.

[Toro Toro Taxi]

Id be around a 7 or 8 for football . I have a hard time evaluating hin due to him really not having all his people in yet . Now , getting out and about in the public and being personable , a 10 . Huff is polar opposite from Doc . I think hes a good thing for Marshall AND Huntington

[banker]

I would give him a high grade simply because he showed

1. A willingness to change based on experience.  He learned from the clock management and style issues that cost us 2 games early.

2. His ability to get mistakes corrected. Our ball security improved throughout the year.

3. His relentless focus on recruiting. You can tell by listening to him talk about the recruiting process they use that he is going to win on the trail.

If you are willing to understand that you?re not perfect and willing to work very hard to get better, you have potential that should be allowed to develop.

[GreenWhite]

I think as coach Huff looks back at this season, he will see a few things that need corrected. One of the biggest has to be telling Cramsey to use the middle of the field more. If he is going to retain him, that needs to be addressed immediately. Many have said the recruiting class is a good one. I do not expect incoming freshmen to be too impactful. I think he knows he needs to hit the portal hard. After yesterday, he is going to see the need to make sure he has a capable #2 quarterback. I'm not saying Zban is not that person. I think there needs to be development of a #2. There are a lot of corrections needed. A coach can only do so much in the time Huff has been here. I thought his hire would ignite the fanbase more. I don't know if winning will bring it back to what it was. He has reached out to the public. He shows fire on the sidelines, not just when he doesn't agree with something. I gave him a C and will stand by that. I'm hoping that next year that grade will increase.

[pdunn]

Like any other coach after one year he gets an Incomplete until he's had time to get his recruits in place with his system.

[herdinphilly]

What kind of grade does the fan base get?

[coalherd]

Prefer to rate overall when season is completely over.  He's made his share of mistakes.  But without benefit of his own recruiting class(es), doesn't seem right to totally evaluate just yet.  Ability to be successful in recruiting is a Vital aspect of a coach's overall ability.

[MicDrass1]

Recruiting and its precise positive outcome of the recruit wins.  You Can?t miss much.  We need stronger guys coming out of high school.

[HERDLUVR]

5/10.

Time management (cost us 2 games), TO's and just simply bad game decisions and play calling at critical times.... such as onside kicks, 4th down decisions and IMHO, the development of Wells from first of year to now. I will say that the last 2 games, Wells made better decisions. However, the passes thrown in double coverage, lack of checking down and going through his progressions aren't much better since game 1.
I do think it is fair to to be patient with Coach Huff to see what recruits we end up with and how Huff improves on the above issues already discussed. I think we will have a very good idea where everything stands after next year and he deserves time to see what improvements can be made.

[Johnnyherd]

I like him, and I think next year will be completely different but

1 ALL our wins came against teams without winning records.
2  We didn?t win any of the tough games
3. We lost 3 times at home. 

So it?s really hard to say this was any type of successful season. 

[muherd34]

Recruiting and its precise positive outcome of the recruit wins.  You Can?t miss much.  We need stronger guys coming out of high school.

It's always about the Jimmy's and Joes...

[bbcard1]

FWIW, the game plan for WKU was brilliant, but we didn't have the horses to deviate. Most schools wouldn't.

[goherd24]

5/10. 7-5 in cusa, is not good. Could be worse, but good be much better. The definition of mediocre at this stage.

Hopefully next year brings improvement.

[herdloyal]

6 that is high for now leaves room for improvement!

[HerdEcon]

I like him, and I think next year will be completely different but

1 ALL our wins came against teams without winning records.
2  We didn?t win any of the tough games
3. We lost 3 times at home. 

So it?s really hard to say this was any type of successful season.

Good analysis.

[Huffnagel]

7 out of 10

-He coached players he didn?t recruit
-His QB threw for nearly as many INTs as he did TDs
-Offense averaged approx 500 yards per game
-Coached an aggressive defense that was at the top in the country for QB sacks
-Has the highest rated recruiting class coming in, also one of the highest in all the G5.
-has great enthusiasm on the side line
-young and very energetic

He made some mistakes this year, but he brought some new things to the table as well.

Personally, I only see him here 3-4 years max, I believe he will get things rolling and head off to greener pastures.