Football
- Title:
- Associate Head Coach/Running Backs
- Phone:
- 205-348-3600
Charles Huff begins his first season with the Alabama Crimson Tide football program in 2019 as associate head coach and running backs coach. An elite recruiter and developer of talent, Huff brings a proven track record to head coach Nick Saban's staff.
Huff arrives in Tuscaloosa after one season as the assistant head coach, run-game coordinator and running backs coach at Mississippi State. He boasts 15 years of coaching experience on both the NFL and college level with stops at Penn State (2014-17), Western Michigan (2013), the Buffalo Bills (2012), Vanderbilt (2011), Hampton (2010), Maryland (2009) and Tennessee State (2006-08).
He inherits a running back room that is led by juniors Najee Harris and Brian Robinson Jr. The Tide will have to replace the production of Damien Harris and Josh Jacobs, who are off to the NFL, but Najee Harris has averaged 6.5 yards per carry the past two seasons while Robinson has added 5.0 yards per tote. Alabama also welcomes the nation's top-ranked running back recruit Trey Sanders to the unit this fall.
Huff's one season in Starkville produced an effective rushing attacked that averaged 223.6 yards per game to rank second in the SEC and 20th nationally. Kylin Hill and Aeris Williams carried the load at running back averaging 6.3 and 6.2 yards per carry, respectively, while quarterback Nick Fitzgerald led the team in rushing with 1,121 yards and 13 touchdowns.
A native of Denton, Md., Huff spent four seasons (2014-17) as Penn State's running backs coach and special teams coordinator. He recruited and developed one of the game's most electrifying players in running back Saquon Barkley, who in 2018 became the highest drafted NFL running back since Reggie Bush went No. 2 overall in 2006.
Barkley, who was called with the second overall pick by the New York Giants in the 2018 draft, produced a dynamic rookie season, rushing for 1,307 yards and 11 touchdowns. He added 91 receptions for 721 yards and four more scores to amass 2,028 yards from scrimmage on his way to Offensive Rookie of the Year honors at season's end.
Numerous records fell at the running back position and on special teams under Huff's guidance at Penn State. Barkley, a 2017 consensus All-American, became the first Big Ten running back in history to win Offensive Player of the Year honors twice. A Walter Camp National Player of the Year finalist, Barkley ranked second nationally in all-purpose yards in 2017 (2,329). He broke four school career records, including rushing touchdowns (43), total touchdowns (53), all-purpose yards (5,538) and consecutive games with a touchdown (15) in just three seasons.
The 2016 campaign saw the Nittany Lions claim the Big Ten Championship, and it was Huff who mentored two record-breakers. Barkley broke the Penn State sophomore record for rushing yards (1,496), all-purpose yards (1,972) and points scored (132), while junior kicker Tyler Davis collected All-Big Ten first team honors after tying the league's single-season record for kicking points (128) and breaking the school record for field goals by a junior (22) and consecutive field goals made (18).
Huff recruited Barkley to Penn State, and his freshman season of 2015 was spectacular. The Freshman All-American broke the school's single-season freshman rushing record with 1,076 yards. He was named the Big Ten Network's Big Ten Freshman of the Year in the process.
He spent the 2013 season at Western Michigan as the running backs coach and helped the unit nearly double its rushing yards from 2012. The Broncos ran for 1,394 yards in 2013 after running for just 735 yards the year before.
Huff spent the 2012 season in the NFL as the assistant running backs coach for the Buffalo Bills. He helped C.J. Spiller to his first career 1,000-yard rushing campaign and a Pro Bowl invitation.
In 2011, Huff was on James Franklin's 2011 staff at Vanderbilt as the offensive quality control coach. Huff and Franklin also worked together at Maryland in 2009, when Huff was the assistant offensive line coach. Huff mentored NFL first-round pick Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie as the tight ends and special teams coach at Tennessee State from 2007-08.
Huff graduated in 2005 from Hampton University where he served as a team captain, starting 12 games at center as a senior in 2005. He also played guard, fullback and tight end in his career.
