Topic: Huff Mentioned as a Candidate at USA

[MUther]

I'm not saying that you're wrong, but IMO Huff was brought in to improve upon what Doc was doing.  So far he's maintained the status-quo and the program has maybe even take a small step backwards.  I hope that Spears laid out exactly what Huff's team has to do next season in order for him to get a contract extension.

That's not even remotely true.  Just look at the schedule difference between what Doc played and what Huff has played.  Doc was thrown softballs his whole career and CUSA was just bad.  SBC is better top to bottom, and it's not close and our OOC has been much harder than anything Doc went up against.  Doc's best season?  2014...no P5.  Huff's best season Notre Dame @ Notre Dame...and he won.  Don't give me status quo.  6 wins against last year's schedule is 10+ wins in any year Doc coached after 2012.  Love Huff or hate him, I'm fine with, but giving Doc an ounce of credit as to being able to hold his jock strap is ridiculous.  Context is everything.  This is the same reason I roll my eyes when I hear we won 24 basketball games last year...against whom?  No one, that's whom.

[herd2win]

That's not even remotely true.  Just look at the schedule difference between what Doc played and what Huff has played.  Doc was thrown softballs his whole career and CUSA was just bad.  SBC is better top to bottom, and it's not close and our OOC has been much harder than anything Doc went up against.  Doc's best season?  2014...no P5.  Huff's best season Notre Dame @ Notre Dame...and he won.  Don't give me status quo.  6 wins against last year's schedule is 10+ wins in any year Doc coached after 2012.  Love Huff or hate him, I'm fine with, but giving Doc an ounce of credit as to being able to hold his jock strap is ridiculous.  Context is everything.  This is the same reason I roll my eyes when I hear we won 24 basketball games last year...against whom?  No one, that's whom.

I don't agree with your assessment.  I love the SBC but it is not head and shoulders above CUSA.  The ND win was huge and special but Huff has not elevated the football program.  Most of our best players 3 years into Huff were all Docs recruits.

[svherd]

I don't agree with your assessment.  I love the SBC but it is not head and shoulders above CUSA.  The ND win was huge and special but Huff has not elevated the football program.  Most of our best players 3 years into Huff were all Docs recruits.

Docs schedules were the easiest we ever had as a D1 school, look it up. He averaged a little over 7 wins a year. Didn't have a winning regular season until year 4. Had the worst season in 2016 in decades. I appreciate all he did and 2014 was awesome but lets not pretend he was Nic Saban, or even Bob Pruett. Huff isn't much better, if that, but he has more signature wins in 3 years than Doc did in 11.

[Rockin Herd Fan]

That's not even remotely true.  Just look at the schedule difference between what Doc played and what Huff has played.  Doc was thrown softballs his whole career and CUSA was just bad.  SBC is better top to bottom, and it's not close and our OOC has been much harder than anything Doc went up against.  Doc's best season?  2014...no P5.  Huff's best season Notre Dame @ Notre Dame...and he won.  Don't give me status quo.  6 wins against last year's schedule is 10+ wins in any year Doc coached after 2012.  Love Huff or hate him, I'm fine with, but giving Doc an ounce of credit as to being able to hold his jock strap is ridiculous.  Context is everything.  This is the same reason I roll my eyes when I hear we won 24 basketball games last year...against whom?  No one, that's whom.

The bottom line is that Huff was brought in to elevate the program and start competing for, and winning championships.  So far he hasn't done that.  I'm not a Huff hater.  I was a the ND game.  That was a great win, and it is a fantastic memory, but that team didn't compete for a conference championship.  Doc's standard was have a winning season, and play in a bowl game.  None of that has changed under Huff.  Why do you think Marshall didn't give him a contract extension after this season, instead of letting him being a lame duck with one-year to go on his contract? 

[Ovaltine Jenkins]

Stop it. Huff said some time ago in a press conference that whenever an opening comes up they usually throw an African American candidate in the mix when talking about potential hires. He interviewed for USA when Kane Wommack was hired. No way were they going to hire him now.

[Flat Tire 2]

Of course MU wanted to win championships with the new hire. One important reason for the change was Doc tendency to recruit a lot of players with problems. A lot of important people were feed up with Doc's players being in constant trouble. Some were involved in criminal cases and a lot of other problems were sweep under the rug and were not made public. I guess Doc was not the great recruiter some thought he was since he took a lot players that other programs thought were toxic. Obviously Doc recruited some players who were good students/players.  For the most part, Huff recruited players that have stayed out of trouble and have not embarrassed the school.

[herd2win]

Of course MU wanted to win championships with the new hire. One important reason for the change was Doc tendency to recruit a lot of players with problems. A lot of important people were feed up with Doc's players being in constant trouble. Some were involved in criminal cases and a lot of other problems were sweep under the rug and were not made public. I guess Doc was not the great recruiter some thought he was since he took a lot players that other programs thought were toxic. Obviously Doc recruited some players who were good students/players.  For the most part, Huff recruited players that have stayed out of trouble and have not embarrassed the school.

The goal is to win games.  I am a nice guy and stay out of trouble but I have no business in playing college football.  Give me a mean tough guy over a choir boy on my team every day.

[svherd]

Of course MU wanted to win championships with the new hire. One important reason for the change was Doc tendency to recruit a lot of players with problems. A lot of important people were feed up with Doc's players being in constant trouble. Some were involved in criminal cases and a lot of other problems were sweep under the rug and were not made public. I guess Doc was not the great recruiter some thought he was since he took a lot players that other programs thought were toxic. Obviously Doc recruited some players who were good students/players.  For the most part, Huff recruited players that have stayed out of trouble and have not embarrassed the school.

Good point.

[Flat Tire 2]

The goal is to win games.  I am a nice guy and stay out of trouble but I have no business in playing college football.  Give me a mean tough guy over a choir boy on my team every day.

Well, fortunately the powers at Marshall disagree with you. They don't want to be a win at any cost program. Some of us lived through the recruiting scandal of the late 1960's that help MU get expelled from the MAC. That was a great era of MU history.

Do you really want a MU football player dealing drugs or sucker punching a gay couple for public kissing? That is a great publicity for the school into day's snowflake/PC era and an excellent way to attract students to increase enrollment. Sure.

[herd2win]

Well, fortunately the powers at Marshall disagree with you. They don't want to be a win at any cost program. Some of us lived through the recruiting scandal of the late 1960's that help MU get expelled from the MAC. That was a great era of MU history.

Do you really want a MU football player dealing drugs or sucker punching a gay couple for public kissing? That is a great publicity for the school into day's snowflake/PC era and an excellent way to attract students to increase enrollment. Sure.

I didn't say I wanted a drug dealer or someone that punches innocent people.  I said I wanted tough players that have an edge.  If you want to increase enrollment win football games. Ask Alabama about enrollment or Clemson or FAU basketball...the biggest driver of enrollment is winning and wanting to be part of a winner.

[W0lfman]

https://x.com/petethamel/status/1747774919629304284?s=46&t=c2gJ3C7ktKnryvzqs94eDA

[HerdEcon]

https://x.com/petethamel/status/1747774919629304284?s=46&t=c2gJ3C7ktKnryvzqs94eDA

It is going to be interesting to see how this works out for USA.  I get the impression there isn't going to be much middle ground.  It is going to be either a really good hire or a really bad hire.  Fortunately for Applewhite he has some talent returning for next season.  I hope it goes well for him except when they play Marshall.  I enjoyed watching Applewhite play and thought he got a raw deal at Houston. 

[Flat Tire 2]

FWIW: If you check the USA message boards Applewhite was the choice from the beginning and the favorite of the posters. I don't think USA ever really considered anyone else for the job including Huff. Applewhite was 15-11 as head coach at Houston.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_Applewhite

[HaveUherd]

I was just talking to someone about the how... he openly says we don't have much money for NIL and he's a coach with a 1yr contract, so I'm not sure how he's convincing players. I'd like to hear the pitch.

Maybe something like I will be at a big school next year and you can come with me and I promise I'll give you huge money?

[MUther]

The bottom line is that Huff was brought in to elevate the program and start competing for, and winning championships.  So far he hasn't done that. 

Last year (2022) we only lost one SBC East game.  Everyone else lost 2 or more.  It was the west teams we played right in the middle of figuring out Columbi was hurt or bad or whatever that we lost those two games.  Win either of those two games OR the defense doesn't crap the bed vs coastal in the first quarter and we played for the championship.  Not so far off as you'd like to make it sound.  As far as elevating the program, Navy @ Navy, ECU @ ECU, VT, Notre Dame @ Notre Dame, best game vs NCState, 1 score loss.  Anyone looking at us over the last 20 years would conclude that we've elevated the program over the last couple years. 

I hate our football identity right now.  I hate watching us play.  It's boring and inept looking.    It's just not entertaining.  It's all do stuff, do stuff and hope the RB breaks free.  I'm so-so on Huff.  I think he's FOS most of the time.  I don't think he knows what he's doing during a game and takes control when he should let his guys do their jobs.  He won't turn it loose and give us what he promised when he was hired.  But I felt this way all of Doc's career and didn't get the marquee wins or the feeling we ever beat anyone worth beating.  We just never played anyone.  Huff started to, at the very least, make me start to believe we had a shot in any game.  When Doc was coach and things went south, they stay south.  His teams had no heart the last 5-6 years.  I always feel like our guys are trying now, even when they're bad.    That's the difference for me. 

I hope the new staff and the new players are going to be the difference in getting close and getting there.  If not, I have zero problem booting Huff.  It's year 4 and his team.  It's not on the school, the fans, the former coach, the former staff.  It's on him.  He picked all of it.  No one to hide behind, now, and I hope he doesn't need to.

[mubowhunter]

Go get ya some Huff

[Flat Tire 2]

Maybe something like I will be at a big school next year and you can come with me and I promise I'll give you huge money?

I wouldn't be surprised. I think I read a post that the former MU softball coach took some of the MU team with her new job at UNC; including two first team SBC all conference team players.

[svherd]

I wouldn't be surprised. I think I read a post that the former MU softball coach took some of the MU team with her new job at UNC; including two first team SBC all conference team players.

Yep and they both played pivotal roles in early UNC softball wins

[Garbanjo]

The "great" Fluff is going nowhere except to the bricks after this season and then to a position coach at a P5.

Dude is a bang average head coach and his product is terrible to watch.

Plus, he talked shite about Huntington, Marshall and the fan base and you sheep still support this Fing guy?

I can't wait for this grade A BS artist to be gone from Marshall.

[Lord Haw-Haw]

The "great" Fluff is going nowhere except to the bricks after this season and then to a position coach at a P5.

Dude is a bang average head coach and his product is terrible to watch.

Plus, he talked shite about Huntington, Marshall and the fan base and you sheep still support this Fing guy?

I can't wait for this grade A BS artist to be gone from Marshall.

I agree!!!! Are you listening, Charlie?

[Lord Haw-Haw]

I thought I heard Jimmy Sexton is his agent

True, I asked Microsoft's new AI app CoPilot the question and this was its response: "Charles Huff is the head football coach at Marshall University, and his sports agent is Jimmy Sexton1, who is one of the most influential and powerful agents in college football2. Sexton represents many prominent coaches, such as Nick Saban, Jimbo Fisher, Kirby Smart, and Lane Kiffin2. He also negotiated Huff?s four-year contract with Marshall, which pays him an annual salary of $755,0003. Huff is considered a rising star in the coaching profession, and has been praised for his recruiting and development skills4".

[herdloyal]

Huff has now just got things figured out to bring balance back into the team structure with all the Portal nonsense to deal with and the piss poor Doc days with only one QB worth his salt and several seasons of winning. The overall enhanced recruiting looks to be on the rise with size, height and talent. Only BP hit the road running and he had a good program stacked with talent and several Qb?s in a row.

[MUonium]

Huff has now just got things figured out to bring balance back into the team structure with all the Portal nonsense to deal with and the piss poor Doc days with only one QB worth his salt and several seasons of winning. The overall enhanced recruiting looks to be on the rise with size, height and talent. Only BP hit the road running and he had a good program stacked with talent and several Qb?s in a row.

agree but i'd make sure it's clear that the football program had been steadily building in all aspects thanks to a few coaches before BP and he ran with it and continued to build.

under Doc and Huff so far, we rarely have a full compliment of key position difference makers like BP had

[Flat Tire 2]

agree but i'd make sure it's clear that the football program had been steadily building in all aspects thanks to a few coaches before BP and he ran with it and continued to build.

under Doc and Huff so far, we rarely have a full compliment of key position difference makers like BP had

Remember when ole Doc announced his signing classes and most of the players never made it to campus? A lot of his players that showed up were in trouble with the police with drug dealing and assaults. Two of our worst home defeats at the Joan were with Doc; a very bad Akron team 65-38 and WKU  and the infamous 60-6. We very rarely lost games like that at the Joan until we hired the ex wvu assistant coach. Hamrick deserved to be fired for employing Doc. 

That said, it's up to Huff to turn it around this season.

By the way, I had a PM from haw haw. He defended Doc and then wrote that MU should have never opened the School of Pharmacy and Marshall should never start new programs. He hates MU and is probably one of those wvu supporting Huntington boys. He never posts anything positive about MU, he just stirs the pot. JMO