Coach Prime pays a heartfelt tribute to freshly hired Southern Mississippi HC Charles Huff

Charles Huff was named the coach of the Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles on Sunday. Meanwhile, Coach Prime and the No. 23-ranked Colorado Buffaloes have had a busy season. Despite his packed schedule, Deion Sanders always makes time to support his friends, family and colleagues. On Friday, he showed a heartfelt display of support for Huff on his Instagram story, writing:

"Coach Huff I love ya and support you my brother!"

Image via Deion Sanders' Instagram story

Southern Mississippi made the hire after struggling over the past five seasons, during which the Golden Eagles won just 17 games. Huff said in a statement:

"There's a lot of Southern Miss Golden Eagles that just haven't flew their wings in four or five years for whatever reason. I need you to come out and get back soaring with us in order for us to take that next step."

His statement was a clear appeal for fan support to help turn the program around. Although Huff has received backing from fellow coaches like Coach Prime, he will need fans in the crowd during home games to keep his athletes hyped.

---

Charles Huff says the decision to leave Marshall was mutual

Charles Huff had been the coach of the Marshall Thundering Herd (10-3) since 2021 and won the Sun Belt Conference Championship this season, with a 31-3 win over Louisiana (10-3) on Saturday.

It's rare for a conference champion's coach to leave for a team at the bottom of the same conference, but that is exactly what Charles Huff did. His contract was set to expire on Jan. 31, but he and the school couldn't reach a contract extension agreement.

"There was a process put in place by the administration, and they went through that process thoroughly," Huff said. "At the end of it, they felt going in another direction was the right decision. That decision was probably made before we won the championship, if that makes sense. It was a mutual decision. It wasn't a knock down, drag out."

Huff now joins the Golden Eagles who ended their 2024 campaign with a 1-11 record.