Topic: This years team the deepest under Huff

[Johnnyherd]

I can?t tell if Coach Huff is simply finding inconsequential topics to speak about to fill up press conference time or if this is a real advantage, but twice now, publicly, Coach has said this is the deepest team he has ever had.

He said there is hardly any difference between 1st and 2nd strings in a lot of positions and since he?s been here he?s had good 1?s and then a huge drop off in talent to the #2 guy and this year that is not the case.

So if it?s true and we have more guys that belong on the field than ever and that could manifest in a mid or late season run as attrition and injury weaken our peer institutions.

Thoughts

[MUonium]

if there's no drop off between 1s and 2s then fantastic.  be proud and make us proud.  what matters is the level of play we get from any 11 at a time.  to beat a dead horse some more- we have limited film on more or less 2 QBs and that's at least one position i wouldn't call deep.  we have a new offensive system.  hopefully we can improve on offensive output while maintaining above average D.  i do have faith that the kicking game might improve a notch as well as assistant coaching.  GO HERD

[MicDrass1]

We have a ton of secondary players and at TE

[Johnnyherd]

I sort of believe as the staff decide who will start and who will be a reserve, this thought has dawned on them.  So this is a great problem to have, so to speak.

[MicDrass1]

Getting the big DT from uva recently is huge.  I?m starting to like the DT, but more DE need to emerge.  Lb is young but talented and spirited.  The main issues and it?s been for awhile.  OL & QB

[MicDrass1]

Talented team .... probably some nfl draft picks on it physically .... unproven as a unit ..... concerns at Qb, OL, Lb, De

[banker]

It?s good if the 2s are as good as the 1s, but that is only important to are chances if the 1s are really good.  If the 1s are mediocre, it doesn?t really matter that the 2s are just as average.

[Buffalo Bop]

https://x.com/HerdFB/status/1820251725325803640

[coalherd]

From an article just out, sound like Ohio State, in quest of a national title, has opened and raided ALL the bank vaults in and around Columbus, OH, for extreme amounts of NIL money.  They have Alabama's leading tackler from a season ago and a 1500 hundred yard rusher in 2022 from Miss. State (or Ole Miss).  I'm sure more high-quality talent has also been purchased, uh, "secured" for the 2024 Buckeye football squad!!

[parshall2marshall]

May I remind, IIRC, the last Herd HC coach that said there wasn't much of a difference between the 1's and the 2's saw his team win at eventual Big 12 Champ #6 Kansas State, with the Herd having "The Winston Churchill of Marshall Football" (p2m)  at QB ( Graham G. ). We went on to go 8-4 against a fairly tough schedule and finish the season strongly ( other than mailing in a 45-6 loss @ #23 Little Miami ) to go 8-4.

[mu79grad]

https://x.com/HerdFB/status/1820251725325803640

Coach Huff has the Nick Saban hat, it's now time to prove to us Herd fans that he has the ability to be at least 3/4 of the coach that Saban was!

[Herdiowa]

This may be nothing but in that video the two QBs both get the snap at the same time.  Cole is slow getting feet ready and the ball out.  Now it could be route timing but correct me if I?m wrong wasn?t that his issue last year.  Hope it?s nothing.

[Johns1124]

This may be nothing but in that video the two QBs both get the snap at the same time.  Cole is slow getting feet ready and the ball out.  Now it could be route timing but correct me if I?m wrong wasn?t that his issue last year.  Hope it?s nothing.

Had the same issue as in HS. Just watch his HUDL.

[Grazing Marco]

Huff has lied or distorted the truth so many times in interviews that I have quit listening. Results matter. That is all I am concerned about at this point.

[marshallmark]

May I remind, IIRC, the last Herd HC coach that said there wasn't much of a difference between the 1's and the 2's saw his team win at eventual Big 12 Champ #6 Kansas State, with the Herd having "The Winston Churchill of Marshall Football" (p2m)  at QB ( Graham G. ). We went on to go 8-4 against a fairly tough schedule and finish the season strongly ( other than mailing in a 45-6 loss @ #23 Little Miami ) to go 8-4.

Anybody that thinks there wasn't a huge drop off from Stan Hill to Graham wasn't paying attention.  I've said it before and I'll say it again, the KState coaches didn't bother scouting MU b/c they thought all we could do was pass, so they played 2 deep the entire game.  That let Butchie Wallace and Earl Charles run all over them.  Graham only had 106 yards passing, mostly on dump offs and tight end crossing patters.  And why KState only gave Sproles 14 rushes, I'll never understand. 

FWIW, the Notre Dame game was a lot more of a "line it up and beat 'em up" game than KState. 

[HerdEcon]

I can?t tell if Coach Huff is simply finding inconsequential topics to speak about to fill up press conference time or if this is a real advantage, but twice now, publicly, Coach has said this is the deepest team he has ever had.

He said there is hardly any difference between 1st and 2nd strings in a lot of positions and since he?s been here he?s had good 1?s and then a huge drop off in talent to the #2 guy and this year that is not the case.

So if it?s true and we have more guys that belong on the field than ever and that could manifest in a mid or late season run as attrition and injury weaken our peer institutions.

Thoughts

Without more details I don't know whether Huff saying the second team is as good as the first team is a positive or an indictment of our first team.

It matters how good the first team is when making the comparison.  If we were talking about a first team that is all conference across the board and the second team was just as good that's one thing but, we are struggling to put players on the first, second, or third all conference teams.  For example, to say that the second team offensive line is as good as the first team may not be saying much, the OL has struggled for at least the last two seasons.  Same applies to our QB and WR positions.

As far as the late season run in concerned, we play 3 of the worst ranked teams in the conference (ULM, So. Miss, and ODU) in November.  We also play Coastal and JMU in November.  With everything Coastal and JMU lost at the end of last season it is hard to predict what kind of teams they will put on the field.  They could be great or could be duds. 

[herd2win]

I am ready for a wild ride as I don't know how anyone can predict any team with so much turnover.  I like our schedule and believe we only have 2 heavily leaning losses and then have App St for our homecoming game.

My guess is we end up 7-5.  Best case 8-4 and worse case 5-7.

[BigJimslade]

I can?t tell if Coach Huff is simply finding inconsequential topics to speak about to fill up press conference time or if this is a real advantage, but twice now, publicly, Coach has said this is the deepest team he has ever had.

He said there is hardly any difference between 1st and 2nd strings in a lot of positions and since he?s been here he?s had good 1?s and then a huge drop off in talent to the #2 guy and this year that is not the case.

So if it?s true and we have more guys that belong on the field than ever and that could manifest in a mid or late season run as attrition and injury weaken our peer institutions.

Thoughts

Huff is spitballing

[Lord Haw-Haw]

Huff has lied or distorted the truth so many times in interviews that I have quit listening. Results matter. That is all I am concerned about at this point.

Great acknowledgement. We'll see. Doc lead Marshall to the C-USA title game in his fourth season (2013) here. Will Huff lead Marshall to the Sunbelt title game in his fourth season (2024) here?

[Lord Haw-Haw]

Huff is spitballing

Huff talks too much period. I have to change the channel or mute the sound on the TV when he comes on the air to avoid becoming upset.

[svherd]

Great acknowledgement. We'll see. Doc lead Marshall to the C-USA title game in his fourth season (2013) here. Will Huff lead Marshall to the Sunbelt title game in his fourth season (2024) here?

It was 2014 but seems like a lifetime ago.

[MUfan08]

It was 2014 but seems like a lifetime ago.

No, we were in the title game in 2013, played at Rice.
Remember, CUSA changed the rules on how home field was determined the week beforehand.
We then got beat like a drum.

[HerdEcon]

More thoughts on Huff's comments...

October 15, 2018 the NCAA launched the Transfer Portal
October 14, 2020 the NCAA announced that college athletes that compete in the 2020-2021 academic year will get an extra year of eligibility and an extra year to compete due to Covid
January 17, 2021 Marshall University officially announced that Charles Huff was hired as head football coach
I'm not even going to get into the large number of recruits/transfers that Huff has brough in during each year.

By Huff's own admission, in his 4th season, in the era of the transport portal and an extra year of eligibility due to the Covid, we are just now getting deep at "a lot" of positions and this is his deepest team.  Why has it taken so long?  Legit question, I don't understand or know the answer.  WKU brought in an offense from Houston Baptist and turned a bottom feeder into a conference champ in one off season.

[BigJimslade]

May I remind, IIRC, the last Herd HC coach that said there wasn't much of a difference between the 1's and the 2's saw his team win at eventual Big 12 Champ #6 Kansas State, with the Herd having "The Winston Churchill of Marshall Football" (p2m)  at QB ( Graham G. ). We went on to go 8-4 against a fairly tough schedule and finish the season strongly ( other than mailing in a 45-6 loss @ #23 Little Miami ) to go 8-4.

Thats a huge reach

[Johnnyherd]

This type of talk could just be akin to Huff?s preseason ?Phenomenal? comments last year.  Fancher was a phenomenal qb that rarely threw touchdowns and when he did, he threw an equal amount of interceptions.