Charles Huff will be the new head football coach at Southern Miss as has been rumored for several days, according to multiple reports.

The 41-year-old Huff has spent the last four seasons at Marshall, where he went 32-20 and won the Sun Belt Conference championship this year. Prior to that, he was assistant head coach and running backs coach at Alabama for two seasons under Nick Saban, helping the Crimson Tide to a national championship in 2020.

Huff’s departure from Marshall for Southern Miss is bizarre in one sense, given that he’s leaving the Sun Belt champion for a team that went 1-11 and went winless in the conference this season. But his contract with the Thundering Herd was set to expire after this season, and talks with the school’s administration regarding an extension had thus far been fruitless.

However, the move is a home run for Southern Miss, a one-time small-school power that has won just one bowl game since 2011 and hasn’t played for its conference championship since 2015. The Golden Eagles — who fired Will Hall on Oct. 20 — moved from Conference USA to the Sun Belt in 2022, and have a record of 11-26 in that time.

North Carolina State defensive coordinator Tony Gibson is expected to replace Huff at Marshall, according to a report by Football Scoop. The Thundering Herd beat Louisiana 31-3 on Saturday to win the Sun Belt title.

A Maryland native, Huff played football at Hampton in the early 2000s. Part of the James Franklin coaching tree, he has also coached at his alma mater, as well as Maryland, Tennessee State, Vanderbilt, Mississippi State, Western Michigan, Penn State and with the NFL’s Buffalo Bills.