Kennesaw State and Tulsa.
In college football, those are two schools that you do not want to be mentioned in the same sentence as. They were Southern Miss’s neighbors on ESPN’s end of season FPI rankings in 2024. USM was ranked 132nd out of 134 eligible teams.
In the span of five years, Southern Miss has gone from being a respectable G5 college football program to a laughingstock. After fielding only seven teams with losing records in a 40+ year span from 1978 to 2019, the Golden Eagles have had just one winning season since 2020.
Enter Charles Huff.
Huff, a former walk on O-Lineman at Hampton university turned big time head coach, is no stranger to adversity. He is taking over as USM’s head coach fresh off coaching Sun Belt rival Marshall to a blowout conference championship victory. He reportedly left Marshall after the two sides could not agree on a contract extension.
Outside of coaching the Thundering Herd to a 32-20 record in four seasons, he brings an impressive recruiting resume to the table. While coaching at Alabama, 247 Sports dubbed Huff the nations top recruiter prior to the 2020 season. Heard of Saquan Barkley? Huff was a huge reason why #26 spent his college years in Happy Valley.
Huff’s “aura” as a recruiter has already helped bolster Southern Miss’s roster on paper – 2024 Sun Belt newcomer of the year QB Braylon Braxton decided to follow Huff from Huntington to Hattiesburg, along with 18 of his teammates. According to 247 Sports, USM has the #2 recruiting class in the Sun Belt (including transfers).
Recruiting is not everything, though. USM had the #2 ranked recruiting class in the Sun Belt in 2024 but finished the season with only one win to show for it. That’s where Huff’s presence will make a difference.
Football teams, more than any other sport, need good coaching for success. As a kid I watched Al Golden take a true cellar dweller in my Temple Owls and turn them into winners.
I have suffered through 5 seasons of bad coaching as a Temple fan and know what the program, or any program is capable of under competent leadership.
But like Charles Huff stated in his press conference, he’s only a small piece of this rebuild. Moving out of a house where Tulsa and Kennesaw State are your neighbors is going to take an all in effort from all of the staff, the community, and the especially the administration, as CFB transitions into an unprecedented time with payers being paid directly and the transfer portal leaving no team unscathed.
But if there’s anyone who can right the ship in Hattiesburg, it’s Charles Huff. Expect a bounce back year from the Golden Eagles in 2025.
Group of five til' I die 