NEW ORLEANS — Entering the final year of his initial four-year contract as Marshall’s football coach, Charles Huff said talks about his future with the team have been ongoing since early 2022.
Huff signed a four-year agreement ahead of the 2021 season, and over the past three years, the Thundering Herd is 22-17 under his direction.
But one of those wins stood above the rest and sparked contract extension talks, Huff said at Sun Belt Conference football media days on Tuesday.
“We’ve had conversations. We’ve been talking, really, since the Notre Dame game, if we’re being honest, about what it looks like,” Huff said of the Herd’s 26-21 win in South Bend, Indiana, on Sept. 10, 2022. “There is a plan in-house. We have not announced that plan, but we’re not sitting here waiting to say, ‘OK, if you don’t win the championship, then you’re gone.’”
The victory over Notre Dame started the talks, which continued throughout the season and then picked up more steam after the Herd defeated Virginia Tech. 24-17, on Sept. 23, 2023.
Huff said timing has played a role in the lack of any contract announcement, but that Huff and Marshall’s administration have each been working diligently to make sure both parties benefit from a new deal, if it comes to fruition.
The Herd went 7-6 in Huff’s first season, capped by a loss in the New Orleans Bowl, before turning around and going 9-5 with a victory in the Myrtle Beach Bowl in 2022. Marshall was 6-7 in 2023, Huff’s first losing season as coach.
“There’s timing and things that come with that, and we’re trying to be creative with what we want to do, the administration and myself,” Huff said.
“We don’t know what college football is going to look like in four years, three years or two years. We’re trying to make sure we put both Marshall and myself in a really good situation so that it’s sustainable.”
“It’s not about just money for me,” Huff continued. “There are things in the program that we’ve got to put in place to make sure we are sustainable and competitive in the conference. Some of those things take time to research.”
Huff said he doesn’t feel as if 2024 will sway his future at Marshall and there’s a reasonable expectation that he returns on a new contract in 2025, based on undisclosed conversations he’s had with Herd athletic director Christian Spears and university president Brad Smith.
“No, there’s no pressure to win a certain number of games to get a new contract, but we want to make sure we put ourselves in a good situation,” Huff said. “We’ve got a plan, I feel good about the plan, and the fans will hear the plan sooner rather than later.“
Luke Creasy is a reporter for The Herald-Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter @LukeCreasy or reach him by phone at 304-526-2800.
