The Memphis Tigers football program has hired its 26th head coach. A week following the announcement of Ryan Silverfield’s departure to Arkansas, we at 4 Star Sports have confirmed through sources that Memphis will hire Charles Huff. Fans may recall that the 42-year-old Huff was the head coach at Southern Miss, where he led the Golden Eagles to a 7-5 record. We will take a deeper look into the hire, what Memphis paid to acquire Huff, and how fans of the Tigers need to realize this is the reality of the program.
Huff All You Want, But Memphis Has Found Its Next Football Coach
Who Is Charles Huff?
A new era begins in Memphis as Huff takes over the program. Throughout his coaching career, Huff has been a run-first guy. This does not come as a shock, as the former fullback for Hampton understands physicality. While at Hampton, Huff transitioned to the Center position by the time his senior year hit. That season, Huff was named team captain and starter.
His coaching career began at Tennessee State as an offensive line coach during the 2006 season. The next two seasons, Huff led the Tigers as the Tight End and Special Teams coach. Over the next three seasons, from 2009-2011, Huff bounced between Maryland, Hampton, and Vanderbilt as offensive line coach and quality control analyst for the Commodores.
The 2012 season saw Huff begin his run as running backs coach with the Buffalo Bills, and the NFL came calling. In 2013, Huff joined Western Michigan in the same role for the Broncos. Following that season, Huff landed at Penn State from 2014-2017, as he led the Nittany Lions. Next in his lengthy journey was the next level, as Mississippi State and the SEC called him coach for the 2018 season. His run as coordinator had one more notch as Huff joined Alabama during the 2019 and 2020 seasons.
This is whenMarshall took a chance and named Huff head coach in 2021, as Huff replaced Doc Holliday. The next season, in 2022, Huff led the Thundering Herd to their second-ever win over a top-ten opponent. In September of 2022, Marshall defeated #8 Notre Dame, 26-2, in South Bend, Indiana, in perhaps the upset of that season. That same season, Huff led Marshall to a bowl victory over UConn in the Myrtle Beach Bowl. During the 2024 season, Marshall won the Sun Belt, behind a 10-3 record, for its first conference championship for the program in more than ten years.
After this run in Huntington, Huff again took his talents elsewhere, as he took over the Southern Miss Golden Eagles program on December 8th, 2024. In his lone year with Hattiesburg, Huff led the Golden Eagles to a 7-5 record. In what was a drastic improvement from the previous season, a 1-11 campaign, Southern Miss dropped its final three games, including a loss toTroy to close the season and a chance at the Sun Belt Championship game.
Now, Huff comes to Memphis, nearly a year to the date of when he accepted the Southern Miss position. According to sources, Huff will sign a 5-year contract, yet the final figures have not been released as of the writing of this article.
Money Is The Answer
After Silverfield departed, the search moved quickly for Memphis. While this may seem the case on the surface, did Memphis sit on its hands? With the statements from Arkansas AD Hunter Yurachek regarding when conversations began with Silverfield, this could be the case. In that deal for Memphis, Arkansas paid the team one million dollars in buyout money.
In the case of Huff, Memphis just used this to pay for his services from Southern Miss. According to the buyout numbers of the contract, Huff was due one million dollars as he accepted the new position before December 8, 2025. If waited two additional days, Memphis would have paid $750,000 to Southern Miss.
We have seen some instant overreactions from fans, yet the new coach has to be given a fair chance to succeed. After all, he has shown the ability to make an impact immediately, and this will be needed with stadium renovations being unveiled in the upcoming season. While the conversation thus far has been on coaches, we cannot forget the players on the current rosters of both Memphis and Southern Miss.
With the hiring of a new coach at Memphis, the window for players to transfer will now begin. If money is important for coaches, it is now just as important for players. With the NIL opportunities at Memphis, we expect to see another fresh batch of players. In the 2025 season, Memphis welcomed over 70 new players, and we see this turnover happening again. Will Memphis be able to retain talented players? Additionally, will the program be able to attract others from across the country?
While most see the previous sentence and think of portal players, this is not entirely the case. No matter the program, the foundation has to be laid in high school players, along with development. This is one of many areas we will be closely watching to see how Huff and staff can retain a new class, just signed this week, in the early signing period.
Also, with the portal opening early in January, we will be watching closely to see how Memphis attracts players to the program.
Why Huff About It?
We mentioned that some fans are upset about the decision. While we understand, to a certain degree, this is nothing new if you have followed football over the last 20 seasons. As we previously discussed, loyalty is only a dollar game. In addition, do we not all do the same thing?
Let’s not act like this has never happened. The last three coaches for Memphis, specifically, have left for other positions. To be blunt, Huff has done the same thing throughout his career. In the current model of college athletics, it is a business. Huff, as well as other coaches and players across the nation, are doing what is best for their families. You know, the same things we all do daily.
So, before you “Huff”, yes, we did this on purpose, about the hire, understand why it happened. Changes show true colors, and this change is a pivotal one for Huff and the Tigers. This is the first “High Profile” position that Ed Scott has hired for while at Memphis. Will this work out? We shall see. But, regardless, there is no need to immediately assume Huff will not be successful. Whenever we change jobs, do we have others who instantly tell us they will not support it? The same principle applies here.
Why Huff about it? No one can change the decision. After all, it all revolved around money, as all decisions in sports now do. So, accept it because Huff is now the head coach at Memphis.
In closing, the new era starts today. We at 4 Star Sports will have more on staff changes, as well as players who may or may not be staying with the team. Additionally, we will keep you up-to-date on any players who are following Huff to Memphis. New Stadium. New Coach, New Era.
