Charles Huff is entering his first season as head coach at Memphis after serving as the head coach at Southern Mississippi. Before landing his head coaching roles, he was a prominent member of Nick Saban’s coaching tree at Alabama.
Inside Charles Huff’s Tough Alabama Interview Before Joining Nick Saban’s Staff
Huff was Alabama’s associate head coach and running backs coach during the 2019 and 2020 seasons under Saban. On Monday’s episode of the “Bunch Information” podcast with Chris Vannini and David Ubben, Huff shared what it was like interviewing for a job under the legendary Alabama head coach.
“So I get a call, and I go to his house. Like because he’s like, well, we can’t meet anywhere,” Huff said (26:02). “So I drive up to his house, and when you drive up to his house, it’s literally like driving up to the White House. Not because of the size, but the aura… And then I’ve seen the dark office on Zoom. I’ve never been in there.
“I’m interviewing with Dan Enos, and coach (Saban) is just sitting there in his chair, and he’s got the stare of like, you don’t know anything about football. I go for an hour talking to Dan about pass protection and running and all of these things, and you’re drilling, you’re standing up, and after about an hour, coach (Saban) says everybody out.”
What surprised Huff was that despite feeling he had performed terribly, Saban later told him the interview “was really good.” Huff thought the conversation was leading to an offer, but Saban only said they would be in touch.
Two weeks passed without contact, as Alabama focused on the 2019 College Football Playoff National Championship game against Clemson, which the Crimson Tide lost 44-16
“I’m like, well, I screwed that up, so they play, and they finish,” Huff said (28:20). “I don’t think they win a championship, but they lost in the national championship, I believe. Then two or three days later, he called me and was like, ‘Hey, we wanna offer you the job. I need you to be here today.’ so I actually got in the car and was in Tuscaloosa in an hour.”
Huff spent two seasons at Alabama, coaching future NFL stars Najee Harris and Saquon Barkley, and helped the Crimson Tide win the 2020 College Football Playoff National Championship over Ohio State. He was named Rivals’ National Recruiter of the Year in 2021 for his role in building Alabama’s top-ranked recruiting class.
With over two decades of coaching experience at programs including Marshall, Mississippi State, Penn State, Western Michigan, Vanderbilt, and Maryland, Huff will now lead Memphis. The Tigers finished the 2025 season 8-5 and were ranked No. 62 nationally in the PFSN College Football Offense Impact Metric with a score of 76.5.
