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Huff Named Marshall Head Football Coach

Charles Huff has been named the Marshall University Thundering Herd’s next head football coach. He just finished his second year with the Alabama Crimson Tide as the associate head coach/running backs coach, helping lead the team to the BCS Championship.

Known as an elite recruiter and developer of talent, Huff’s proven track record has bolstered Alabama head coach Nick Saban’s staff for the past two seasons.

“This is an exciting day for Marshall University football and I can’t wait for Coach Huff to get here,” said Marshall President Jerome A. Gilbert. ”He is going to energize the Herd fanbase and I know folks are going to love him and his style of football.”

Huff, 37, and a native of Denton, Maryland, joined Alabama in 2019 after one season (2018) as the assistant head coach, run-game coordinator and running backs coach at Mississippi State University. He boasts 17 years of coaching experience on both the NFL and college levels. He is a 2005 graduate of Hampton University in Hampton, Virginia, where he played football, serving as the team’s captain.

“My family and I are so excited to be joining the Marshall University football program. The history, tradition and passionate fan base this university has is second to none,” Huff said. “To the current players, former players, fans and supporters, it’s time to unite like never before. We’ve got work to do and we need everyone working together to take this program to the next level! The process begins now. We Are Marshall.”

Saban, head coach at Alabama, and a Fairmont, West Virginia native, praised Huff as ready to step up into the ranks of a head coach. “We always want our coaches to grow and advance in the profession and Charles has worked very hard to earn this opportunity. We truly appreciate all that he has done to contribute to the success we’ve had at Alabama and wish him the best at Marshall.”

On Jan. 4, 2021, Marshall University announced that the school would not renew head coach John “Doc” Holliday’s contract, set to expire on June 30. Holliday recorded 85 wins at Marshall, including three straight seasons with at least 10 wins. He also led Marshall to eight bowl games, winning six of them. In December 2020, Holliday was also selected as the Conference USA Coach of the Year for the second time in his career.

The appointment is pending contract approval by the university’s Board of Governors. The board will meet virtually in an emergency meeting Monday to approve Huff’s contract.

Holliday Out As Marshall Football Coach

Marshall University announced today — in a press release — that the school would not renew head football Coach John “Doc” Holliday’s contract. It was set to expire on June 30.

The school will instead form a search committee to find Holliday’s replacement. Marshall University president Jerome Gilbert said athletic director Mike Hamrick will serve as chairman of the search committee.

Holliday is finishing his 11th year as head coach. Late last month he was named Conference USA’s Coach of the Year for the second time in his career. He previously won the award in 2014.

In a statement, Holliday said “I’ve always strived to build and leave the program in better shape than I found it. We took a lot of pride in building a winning and clean program.”

Holliday recorded 85 wins at Marshall, including three straight seasons with at least 10 wins. He also led Marshall to eight bowl games, winning six of them.

The team started the season well this year with seven straight wins, but then lost the last three games, including the conference championship and the 2020 Camelia Bowl.

In 2017, before Governor Jim Justice took office, he reportedly met with Gilbert to recommend that Holliday be replaced by former MU coach Bobby Pruett.

Mountaineers and Herd Kick Off 2014 Season

The state’s two Division 1 football programs kick off their seasons on the road Saturday afternoon.

Both Marshall and WVU kickoff at 3:30. Marshall is headed to Oxford, Ohio to take on the Miami University Red Hawks. The Mountaineers have a slightly tougher challenge Saturday as they travel to Atlanta for a matchup with Alabama, the team ranked number two in both the USA Today and Associated Press Preseason Polls.

WVU head coach Dana Holgorsen knows it will be a challenge.

“When you think of an Alabama team and you think of Coach Saban, it’s going to be defense and Kirby Smart has been there defensive coordinator for a long time, been with Nick for a long time,” Holgorsen said. “They do a great job of recruiting top notch talent, big fast strong guys, some of the better players in the country each and every year.”

The matchup with Alabama also presents a unique challenge for Alabama coach Nick Saban. Saban is a native of Fairmont and grew up rooting for the Mountaineers.

“When I was a kid–man, to go to Mountaineer Field and watch West Virginia play that was the highlight of my year,” Saban said. “I still have great memories of home and I have great memories of the people and relationships that I have at home and I’ve always kind of been a Mountaineer fan.”

While the Mountaineers are tussling with the Crimson Tide, Marshall will begin its most hyped season since the early 2000’s with a trip to Miami of Ohio. Doc Holliday said because the Redhawks have a new coach in Chuck Martin, the former Notre Dame assistant, they’re not sure what Miami’s offense and defense will look like.

Senior tight end Eric Frohnapfel warms up during fall practice.

“Chuck is a heck of a football coach, he coach on the defensive side of the ball early on at Notre Dame and then became the offensive coordinator,” Holliday said. “He was at Grand Valley state and a lot of different places and has been very successful wherever he’s been, so we don’t know exactly what we’re getting, so we went clear back to Grand Valley and clear back to Notre Dame, we have to prepare for a lot of different things.”

Senior tight end Eric Frohnapfel said he’s been happy to see how excited Marshall fans are for the season.

“I know my phone has just been, bloom bloom, I’ve gotten Facebook notifications and tweets from people that have countdowns going and they’re putting up these messages, so it’s good to see the turnout from the fans and they’re really excited and hopefully we can travel a large crowd there and I’m glad to see it, it’s that time of the year, the excitement is in the air and I’m happy to see it,” Frohnapfel said.

WVU and Alabama will be televised on ABC Saturday at 3:30. Marshall’s Matchup with Miami University is on ESPN3 at 3:30 as well.

Marshall Football Receiving High Praise

Marshall University Football is coming off a 10-4 season that has expectations through the roof for the upcoming season.

Before fall even starts Marshall’s football team is receiving more hype than it has in quite a while. Last season saw the Herd challenge for its first Conference USA championship after winning the east division. Marshall traveled to Rice for the conference championship, but fell to the Owls 41-24. The loss was just the second all year against a conference team, the other a loss to Middle Tennessee State.

The Herd was led last year offensively by quarterback Rakeem Cato who led the team to more than 40 points per game, the last two seasons. But the reason 2013 led to a bowl win and 2012 saw the Herd finish 5-7, was that last year’s defense tightened up under new defensive coordinator Chuck Heater allowing 20 points fewer per game and nearly 90 yards less than the season before. Marshall Head Coach Doc Holliday said the defense was the key.

“We also had 14 new players on that defense a year ago, Rouse was back healthy, 14 new players played a lot and contributed a lot and along with Chuck and that defensive staff, we’re a lot more athletic and we can matchup in space a lot better and I think we have a shot at having a good defense as long as long as we can stay healthy and continue to work hard,” Holliday said.

The Rouse that Holliday speaks of, is defensive lineman James Rouse, who after a career riddled with injuries had his breakout season last year. He’s picked as the Conference USA defensive player of the year. Teammate Cato, is picked as preseason offensive player of the year. And the team is picked as the favorite to win the East Division.

Rouse was granted a sixth year of eligibility by the NCAA after dealing with so many injuries his first few years in Huntington, that included back and Achilles problems. Most players are only eligible for four-years with a team, sometimes five if they’re redshirted for a year, which means they sit out to gain experience. Sixth years are sometimes granted if a player has dealt with many injuries.

“I was overjoyed just because of all the injuries I went through in the past, I felt like I wanted to play more for Marshall than I was able to so getting a sixth year really gave me that opportunity,” Rouse said.

Last year’s Conference USA offensive player of the year, Rakeem Cato, has already been named to the:

Walter Camp Award Watch List
Maxwell Award Watch List
Davey O’Brien Award Watch List
College Football Performance Award QB Watch List

Cato says he just has to continue working hard.
“The best thing I can do is work on my craft every day and just get better and believe in my coaching staff and believe in the players around me, as long as I can do that at a high level and take care of practice every day and work hard every day, I think we’ll have a great shot at the end of the year,” Cato said.

The senior quarterback has thrown for a touchdown in 32 straight which is 6 shy of the record of 38.

Marshall Football Coach's Contract Extended

Marshall University has extended the contract of coach Doc Holliday two years and raised the payouts for the incentives in the deal.

Athletic director Mike Hamrick announced Monday that Holliday’s contract now runs through the 2017 season.

Holliday is 27-24 at Marshall and coming off a 10-4 season. His base salary of $600,000 will stay the same but his new deal increases his incentives to a total of $145,000 if they are reached.

Holliday will receive a $30,000 bonus for conference championships and $30,000 for each bowl appearance, both an increase of $10,000 over his previous contract.

Spring Practice Begins at Marshall Before Season of Expectations

With expectations at levels not seen in over a decade Marshall Football is into the second week of spring football practice, working to improve the overall quality of the team by adding depth in some key positions on the field.

Fresh off a 10-4 season that was capped off with a 31-20 win over Maryland in the Military Bowl, Marshall Football is back on the practice field.

Spring Football practice started last week for the Thundering Herd. Marshall Head Football Coach Doc Holliday said this is the time when depth is built and young guys have to step up.

“We talk about it all the time with our program, there’s no place to hide in this program, if you don’t like where you are change what you’re doing,” Holliday said.

Among the positions where depth has to be developed this spring is the quarterback position. The starter is set with reigning Conference USA offensive player of the year Rakeem Cato. But his backup is where the question mark sits because of the offseason transfer of Blake Frohnapfel to UMass. So competition will be the name of the game for GunnarHolcombe, Kevin Anderson and Cole Garvin.

“We know Cato can play, but we have to find a backup, if you don’t have that guy at the position that’s an issue,” Holliday said. “So those three guys are going to get a lot of reps and we have to make sure we do a great job as coaches.”

Holliday said last year’s successes were possibly because of the seniors finishing their careers on a high note. Holliday says in order for this coming season to be as great as they hope it will be, a new class of seniors will have to play a large role.

“For us to go where we want to this year, all those guys have to play their best football ever,” Holliday said.

Holliday said it’s a good feeling to know what you have as a team going into spring, unlike past spring practices.

Marshall will hold the annual Green and White scrimmage to end spring practice on April 26^th.