University of Southern Mississippi Athletic Director Jeremy McLain went into his search for a head football coach with the goal of finding someone that can lead the Golden Eagles to the championship level of the Sun Belt Conference.

Who better for that than Charles Huff, who was announced on Sunday by the school as the new head coach in Hattiesburg.

On Saturday, Huff was busy leading the Marshall Thundering Herd to the 2024 Sun Belt Championship in Lafayette with a 31-3 victory over the homestanding Ragin’ Cajuns.

Huff comes to the Hub City after four years as the head coach at Marshall. In his first opportunity as a head coach, Huff took Marshall to four straight bowl appearances.

His first job in the Magnolia State was a 2018 stint as the assistant head coach and running backs coach at Mississippi State for Joe Moorhead. The pair had previously worked together at Penn State, where Morehead was the offensive coordinator and Huff led the running backs from 2014-2017.

After a year in Starkville, Huff was plucked up by Nick Saban, who tabbed him as the associate head coach and running backs coach at the University of Alabama from 2019-2020, prior to his hiring at Marshall.

His final team in Huntington, West Virginia currently sits at 10-3 ahead of a bowl game.

The move from Marshall was one that had been long rumored after the search for a new head coach at Southern Miss began with the firing of former head coach Will Hall during the season.

Hall began the season making over $800,000 a year, while Huff coached this season for less money at Marshall and came into the 2024 season with a contract that was set to expire in January of 2025.

Marshall has reportedly already found Huff’s replacement in North Carolina State defensive coordinator Tony Gibson.

It’s the second straight time for Marshall to move on from a successful coach on an expiring contract, as Huff replaced Doc Holliday, who went 85-54 at the school and was named Conference USA Coach of the Year with a 7-3 team before being released.

He’ll take over a much different situation in Hattiesburg, as the Golden Eagles went 1-11 in 2024, with the lone win coming over Southeastern Louisiana. Every loss was by 10 or more points, with Marshall beating the Golden Eagles 37-3 on Nov. 9. A formal press conference to announce the hiring will take place in Hattiesburg on Thursday, Dec. 12.