STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- Joe Moorhead was introduced at Mississippi State Thursday morning and within two hours it appears Moorhead's new staff will include at least one former Penn State colleague.
Running backs coach and special teams coordinator Charles Huff is reported to be joining Moorhead in Starkville as the Bulldogs' co-offensive coordinator, per Chris Vannini of The Athletic. Huff has been in Happy Valley since James Franklin arrived, helping groom Saquon Barkley into a Heisman contender and lining up the rest of the Lions' loaded backfield. He's also been one of Penn State's top recruiters and helped turn around the special teams units within the past two years.
However, this potential departure does not impact the verbal pledge of Penn State four-star running back Ricky Slade, whose father told DKPittsburghSports.com his son is still 100 percent committed to the Nittany Lions.
Equally important on the recruiting front is that Moorhead told Bob Carskadon of Hailstate.com that he will not try and sway Penn State commits to back out of their verbal pledges and join him at Mississippi State.
While Moorhead said Thursday he will still be the play caller at Mississippi State, he was asked what traits he's looking for in his assistants and coordinators. After a glance down at his note pad he offered this succinct response:
"Intelligence, loyalty, great work ethic and he has to be a great recruiter and an expert at his position," Moorhead said.
Huff, a native of Denton, Md., coached at Tennessee State, Hampton, Maryland and then at Vanderbilt with Franklin in 2011. He also spent the 2012 season with the Buffalo Bills and then was at Western Michigan in 2013 before coming to Penn State. His time at Vanderbilt and Tennessee State, plus his ability to land big-time prospects nationally helps fill the recruiting void in the SEC country that Moorhead's coaching resume lacks. Moorhead acknowledged he did land players from Texas, Mississippi and Louisiana during his Fordham tenure, but the addition of Huff would certainly bolster the Bulldogs' recruiting efforts.
While this move could have a big-time recruiting impact for Penn State, it also could factor into how the Lions choose to add their 10th assistant coach. So, should the report hold up, that would be three vacancies for Franklin to fill -- offensive coordinator, running backs coach/special teams coordinator and the vacant 10th assistant spot.
This move could mean the Lions hire a special teams specific coach, something Franklin mentioned in the past when asked about how the Lions could approach the added staff position. This all should make for an interesting few weeks for the Nittany Lions and what they do for the bowl game will be a challenge to try and figure out as well. Should Huff be gone to Mississippi State, then I'd imagine he'd be getting a jump start of trying to keep Mississippi State's 2018 commits on board, making him out for Penn State's bowl game.