Charles Huff Weekly Press Conference – September 30, 2025
9/30/2025 4:30:00 PM | Football
HATTIESBURG, Miss. – Southern Miss head football coach Charles Huff addressed the media on Tuesday, Sept. 30, during the Golden Eagles' bye week.
Southern Miss (3-2) wrapped up nonconference play against Jacksonville State last week, winning 42-25 over the Gamecocks on Saturday, Sept. 27, at Carlisle-Faulkner Field at M.M. Roberts Stadium. While the Golden Eagles will not take the field this week, the Golden Eagle Hotline will still take place at 8 p.m. at Walk-On's Sports Bistreaux in Hattiesburg.
Fans can also enter into the Golden Advantage: Buy Early, Score More Ticket Promotion for the next Southern Miss home game on Saturday, Oct. 25, when the Golden Eagles host ULM for their 2025 Homecoming game. For more information and to enter into the competition, click HERE.
Here is what Huff said to the media:
Opening Statement…
Appreciate everyone being here. Obviously really good performance last week by our guys. Thought they did a really good job of responding. Thought they came out with a lot more intentional focus. I thought they prepared a lot better last week, and they were able to get the result they were looking for. As coaches, we were able to see some improvement in some areas. We were also able to see some areas where we still have to continue to work. So that'll be our focus. It is bye week. Try to address some of those areas of need, some of those areas of improvement, some of them you can't fix in a week. So some of those things are things we'll have to adjust scheme wise, coaching wise, position wise, but some of the things we can improve on and then get ready to move into next week's game preparation.
On how they will approach the bye week and next week's Thursday game…
Yeah, we've taken the approach. I think it's different every year. 10 years ago, when you didn't have 80 new guys, you used this opportunity to develop some of your down the line guys. We're going to just take the approach to take the entire week and work on ourselves, work on trying to get, obviously, healthy from a standpoint of getting guys that have played a lot of reps, the treatment and rehab that they need work on, Okay, who's next? You know, who are the next guys? And maybe they've played a handful of plays here, a handful of plays there, who are those guys that we need to put a little more time in from a fundamental and technique standpoint, and then try and do a little bit of a you could call it self-scout. But hey, here are some plays that are cornerstones of what we need to be able to do that we haven't been great on and kind of put the focus into those, not only on the field, but as coaches. Okay, are we in the right formation? Is this the best way to run this play? Does it complement what we're doing well now and then to the back end of the week, from a coaching standpoint, we'll start to make the trend, excuse me, the change into doing the preview on the next opponent. I think you got to be careful. You get on it too early. You come up with too many answers. You know, I think what we've gotten into a really good routine, not only with the players, but with the coaches, of how we prepare and how much time we have to really dive into what the opponent is doing. The more time you start putting in more plays, and then you're carrying two times the amount of plays into a game than you normally would. So that's kind of our approach.
On players' preparation outside of the building…
I think it's changed a little bit, because we used to not be able to have the 18 millimeter rolls. You couldn't take home. Remember that, John, you couldn't take those home. So, now you got iPads, and they can get on their phones. Now, you know, the film, the practice film, and those things. So having them, we spent a lot of time this summer of teaching them how to watch film. It's not like watching a highlight. It's not like watching a game. You have to teach them how to watch film based on how we practice and what we are looking for them to bring into the building the next day. So we teach them about situational football. We teach them what to watch. We had each coach at the beginning of the year put a weekly study guide together. This is what you do on Monday nights. This is what you do on Tuesday nights. This is what you do on Wednesday nights, and it coincides with how we practice. So you review what we did that day in practice, then you preview what's coming up for next, just like they do in class. So you take that kind of approach. So now it's the same thing in class. Well, you go to class, you take your notes, you get the study guide, you go to study hall, you're reviewing for the next class, you do some work ahead. So we took that same approach, because that's what they've kind of been trained to do. So what we try to get our guys to do is stick to that study guide. Obviously, each week is different, right? Because the situation may change, may not change first second down, but what they do may change. So we try to get them to get in that routine. What we found is the weeks that they watch and go through the study guide thoroughly, they come to practice with a much higher intent and focus, because they kind of understand what's coming. No different than when you go to class, if you studied for the test, you walk in very confident. If they've watched the film and they went through the study guide, then they come to practice with a much better confidence of what we're being asked to do and how to do it. We also kind of have weekly tests. I try not to use that word, because that word creates anxiety, weekly questions to follow up. Okay, so here you go. You had your Monday night study guide. Okay, here are three or four questions that you need to have answered before your Tuesday meeting. Tuesday night study guide. Here are three or four questions that you have to have answered before your Wednesday meeting. So that forces them to get into a little bit of a routine, because when I come in the meeting, coach is going to say, All right. Question number one, who's the starting Mike linebacker? Okay, well, I need to know, you know. Hey, question number two, what coverage do they play in the red zone? You know? Okay, well, I need you know, so that gives them a little bit of accountability and a pattern. Because if you just say, go watch film, they're going to watch it like they do on Sunday night football. They're just going to watch the game and they're going to say, oh, man, he made a good play. Well, that's great. They can do that too, but we want to have some routine involved in that, that carries over into practice and the office.
On how the offense can use the Jacksonville State as a building point…
I think we've done that. And every week doesn't mean that you just keep getting better, right. You just want to continue to improve. Last week, I thought we made a bigger jump in improvement the week before, I thought we had some areas where we improved, but obviously there were some glaring areas where we did not, and I think a little bit of it helps build confidence, because what you guys see on Saturday is a three hour snapshot. What our offense, defense and special teams gets is okay. Last week, we made these mistakes. We can't make these mistakes again. Here's an area where we have to improve so they get to see the full picture and helping them understand that, hey, this is how you get the result that you want by it starts in Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday, it starts when we have red zone period on Wednesday. What are we doing down there? What's our intent? You know, we've gone back, and there's been plenty of examples of us executing on Wednesday in the red zone, and it happened the exact same way in the game. There's been plenty of examples of us not executing in an area, third down, red zone for whatever reason drop pass, scout team gives the wrong look. I mean, whatever reason, someone gets through blitz, whatever, and it shows up in a game. So trying to get them to understand that literally, practice is the game, and if we can execute down there in the red area, third down, first and second down, whatever it may be, blitz, normal down, blitz, whatever it may be. If we can execute on Tuesday, Wednesday, we should feel very confident to go execute on Saturday. Now there's always we don't know what the other team is going to call, but we do have a good enough call it, library of what they've done down there, so we can give our guys different looks in practice, so that when they get in the game, they're like, oh, this is that look. This is that coverage. This is why we're running this play. So I think it creates a little bit of more confidence each week you can build and improve. So we should be able to go into the bye week and really take a step back and look, okay, we've made some improvements game one through five. Where else can we go, how far can we go, and what do we need to do to get ready for the next opponent?
On Jeffery Pittman's performance against Jacksonville State and growth of the offensive line…
I think overall, I think our O line is starting to play with some cohesion. You know, I think it takes time. I know no one wants to hear that, but none of those guys have ever played together. All five of them are new. And then when you roll in a sixth or seventh guy, that's another combination. I think it takes time, because it takes time for those guys to get together and understand, okay, what are the certain looks? Who gets movement? Who gets, you know, stalemates, you know, who's better on the back side, front side and in the backs right. None of those backs have ever played with that group of O line. So it's a little bit like, like a choir, you know, you got to start singing on the same tune, the same song. And I think that's starting to happen. I think that's starting to happen not only with our O line, but with our O line and our backs. I think it's a little bit easier to see continuity in pass protection, because Braylon can make some things right even when they're wrong. So that probably jumped out a little bit faster or sooner. the run game, there's got to be a lot of people to be right and the backs got to be right in order for it to go right. So I think again, the cohesion, the playing together, I think, is helping the O line. I think obviously now the backs are starting to see the same looks, the same holes, the same plays. And now they're getting them more comfortable. They're starting to run with a little more confidence. I think that helps. Again, confidence in both. Feeling down the O line, starting to feel like, hey, we can move these guys, or hey, look, if I move this guy, my back's going be able to hit the hole. So I think it just it builds week in and week out.
On using Jaylin Carter in different positions…
Yeah, when we recruited him, we weren't really sure if he was going to be a receiver, a running back. I know everyone tags this athlete, but in recruiting, you got to get in a seat, you know, I mean, you there's no seat for athlete. You can't have 35 athletes. Somebody's got to be a running back, somebody's got to be a receiver. So our thought process was, we'll bring him in and we'll start him at running back, because our receiver room had a lot of depth. If this had been another year, maybe we start him at receiver, but we brought him in, we started him at running back, and what we saw was he had great spatial awareness. He was actually tougher, and I don't say that in the negative, but to be a true freshman in camp, he would get in there and bang with the first group. He would get in there and step up in pass pro. You know, he end up on his butt a couple times, but, you know, he jumped right back in there. And then what we saw was he's very inquisitive and he pays attention. So even when he's not in he's watching and paying attention. I typically send the running backs, like a 10 or 15 play practice cut up after practice. That's the one area that I look at, I wonder why, but I look at that area a little bit more. So typically, I'll send them, you know, 10, 15 plays just in practice. Hey, you know, press the line here. Stay a little bit tighter. Coach Lockett does a great job. I just like to still be involved with the players. He's one of; the rest of them will give me a thumbs up. Coach, I watched it, you know. Coach, appreciate it. He'll come by every week, every day. Tuesday and Wednesday, we do it. He'll come by every day and coach, hey play the play six can we look at that together? Or Hey, Coach, play seven. Can we look at that together? Not because I think he's just trying to say he's watching it, because some of the things that I'm saying are new to him hearing from the running back position. So I knew kind of early in camp that his inquisitiveness or his willingness to learn was going to help him get to the field faster. Had no idea when and we got him in some scrimmages that he did really well in obviously, getting him into some games, he's done really well, and we as coaches got to make sure that we continue to keep him ready to go. The more bodies you have in that room, the better you are, especially the deeper you go. So I've been really impressed with him. I think he's going to continue to grow.
On if Carter reminds him of any former players…
I've had some guys who have moved from receiver to running back. You got, Keilan Robinson, we had him in Alabama. He's down, I think he's in the NFL. He ended up transferring to Texas. He was a guy that was a little bit slighter, a little bit quicker, Carter's probably a little thicker than him. But what you see with those guys who normally play out in space is they've got really good short area quickness. You know, it doesn't take them long to get in and out of a hole. Which is really good. What you always are concerned about, and which we're continuing to develop, is you don't pass pro out on the edge like there is no you know, you don't block middle linebackers out on the edge running through the A gap. So that's the thing you're always concerned with. But I think he's done a really good job in the opportunities that he's had, and we just got to continue to get him those opportunities in practice. So he goes into game confident.
On JJ Hawkin's development and his impact for the defensive line...
"Yeah, I told the D-line. We've got a lot of undisciplined penalties at the D-Line right now, I think we're jumping offside way too much. Part of that is that everyone is so excited to get to the quarterback. The other part of it is we're just flat out undisciplined. But what I told them is we have to understand now teams are going to use hard count against us, because we don't have one D-lineman that is disruptive, we've got about six. So the way you combat a disruptive D-line is if there's one guy, you slide the protect to him, you chip, you put the tight end over there. If it's four guys, you've got to use hard count, you've got to use shifts, you've got to use motions. You've got to change up the protection. So with that, like I told him, JJ is starting to have some success. Jameer Lewis is starting to have some success. [Garrick] Ponder is starting to have some success. Obviously, [J'Mond] Tapp has done a great job. Whenever those edge guys are doing good things, the inside guys are playing at an extremely high level because the ball is not getting back to the inside. And what you see a lot of times is some of our sacks, our guys are just rushing around the edge. Well, they're rushing around the edge because our inside guys, Brodarius [Lewis] and Gibby [Isaiah Gibson, Sr.], [Najae] Hallenbeck, [Jaden] McKinney, Mason Clinton, those guys aren't allowing teams to step up. Those guys aren't allowing the ball to hit the core of the defense. It's got to go to the edge. So now you're seeing the D-ends have a lot of success. I think JJ has probably been one of the quiet, most effective guys we've had all year. What he's starting to do now, knows he's starting to make the splash play, but what he's been able to do is he's been able to anchor, you know, he's been able to play lag technique. He's been able to rush up the field and make the quarterback give the ball on the power read instead of the power sweep, which those are things that, from a fan's perspective, you may not realize, but those are effective plays. Now he's starting to make some of those splash plays. Now he's starting to add a little bit of pass rush to his run game efficiency. And I think what's happening now is we have so many guys at the D line who are starting to play at a high level. No one's having to play too much. So now guys are staying fresh longer. Obviously, guys are going into the game with a lot more juice, which is helping. Obviously, guys are in a better position to recognize plays, because they have only been in here 10 plays, and I've seen the same formation three times, rather than I've been here 60 plays, and it all starts to run together. So I think a little bit of it, JJ is doing a really good job with the preparation, and I think he's starting to make the splash plays that people are recognizing, where he's been making the efficient plays that our defense has been going about for a long time."
Huff on what concepts they saw in film that leveraged progression...
"Yeah, they have, I mean, that high school offense where you put two quarterbacks in and you run left, run right. I mean, you're going to have 12 plays a game where they do that, and you got to make a decision, are they going to beat us with these 12 plays? No, the other 70 that we got tackles for loss on will live with it. You've got to kind of make some decisions, because there's so much variance. You know, we could try to play every two quarterback play. We could try to play all the tricks and gimmicks, you don't win games on tricks and gimmicks. At some point you've got to put your Riddell on the next guy's Riddell. And if you don't do that for 70 plays, you can run 100 tricks and gimmicks. What we decided was, although they had those 12-play package, it was going to be in the same realm of the defense they or offense they were running power sweep, some type of sideline, some type of counter. So, we played the same defense. Where we were a little disappointed as coaches, I didn't think we tackled well in space. You know, yes, there's going to be a quarterback run. He may get to the line for four yards. Well, we overrun the angle and it turns into 24 yards. Yes, there may be a quarterback scramble. We have everybody covered. He steps up and scrambles for six. Yes, that's good, not 76 so that's where from a coaching standpoint, like we talked about, what are we working on this week? We've got to start tackling in space better. We do a really good job when the ball is in between the tackles. We do a really good job when we can go set an edge. We have not done a great job when the ball is facing the goal line in space. So we've got to do a better job with our approach angles. We've got it- and that's where I said some where we were a little too aggressive. I mean, we ran by three guys. I mean, there's one clip on the screen, the screen pass that they hit, great play. But like, five guys ran past the guy, like crash dummies, like, boom, boom, boom, boom. I think we tackled six guys on the sideline that were standing, not in the game, but that's a little bit of understanding. We've still got to come to balance. We still have got to be near footed, near shoulder. We've still got to have good approach angles. That's where as a coaching [staff] you go back and say, how do we get better at that? We got to be better at that, because if you take out, you know, the scrambles in space missed tackles. I don't know if they have 100 yards, and I'm not. I'm just being honest. I don't know if they have 100 yards, but they did those. So how do we improve? We've got to tackle better space.
On Chris Jones and Michael Montgomery...
"I get caught in between, because in our building, stats don't mean anything, right? The only stat that matters is you win. Like you guys asked me last week, you had 500 and some odd yards offense and like, 10 points, right? So stats really don't mean anything, but from the public perception, they're one of two of the highest tacklers in the country, which they're doing a really good job, probably two tops in the league, for sure, which means they are actually doing something. What we're impressed with is their technique and fundamentals. What we're impressed with is their growth from game one to game two. So, you look back in LA Tech, Chris Jones is so aggressive that he's not looking at the tight end on the first play, huge play. Well, what you guys don't see is it's the exact same formation, the exact same call, different eye discipline on the goal line stand down here. He's got the quarterback. All you've got to do is look at the quarterback, Chris. Don't look at the action, don't look at the run, look at the quarterback. He looks at the quarterback. Quarterback comes to him. He tackles one to one. So that's what we're excited about, like the progress, the end game's getting better with his technique. He's taking the coaching a mistake. You don't see it twice. You know, he's improving from a movement standpoint, you know, I think the reason that him and Chris, I mean, Chris and Mike, have such high tackle numbers, is because their fundamentals are so good. They're never shoulders to the sideline and they're always shoulders to the ball. They're always moving downhill with inside-out leverage. Those are the two guys that probably do tackle the best in space. You know, our secondary is the ones that's out there, coming from a little farther, so they got a little bit of a different perspective, but they're doing a great job. And what's starting to happen in that room? Again, competition is the greatest form of motivation. Well, in that room, the other guys know, if I don't go in here and produce, they're going to play Chris and Mike the whole game, because these guys are doing a heck of a job. And I think he showed it with Avery Sledge coming in and getting the fumble and, you know. So I think there's a lot of competition in the room that's creating a lot of confidence. The other thing is, I know everybody on the team respects those guys preparation. Mike Montgomery is up here like, I don't know where the guy lives, but his address is probably the Duff, and everybody respects his preparation. So, they feel very confident when he makes a call. They feel very confident when they line up next to him. They watch him practice. They love his practice habits that is starting to become infectious in the linebacker room and on the defense, he's the one guy that doesn't talk a lot, but when he says something, people listen, and I think that respect has been earned through his consistent work habits."
On the importance of the bye week...
"I think again, you know, we don't really call it a bye week, you know, it's an opportunity for us to not have a game, but we still got work to do, you really think about it. We've been going at this thing for eight weeks non-stop, you know, four weeks of training camp, and then five weeks, or four and a half weeks of actual game play. So it's always good, even if it's just from the mental piece of it. You know, these guys are actual humans. So, there's things that happen in their life. They got class, they got family situations back home. You know, all of them got girlfriends who I don't understand why they do, but they got girlfriends. And so there are things, from a mental standpoint, that always help a little bit. It's hard in our program, everything is fourth and one. So there's always an intense grind, even if we're not just on the field practicing, it's getting ready for the next practice or the next meeting. So for these guys to take a little bit of a break mental health is real. So for these guys to take a little bit of a break mentally as well as the physical piece, but still be able to get some work done and get some improvement in. I think it's a good thing."
