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- Charles Huff Is 39-25 With A Conference Title. He's Also On His Third Job In Three Years.
Charles Huff Is 39-25 With A Conference Title. He's Also On His Third Job In Three Years.
What Memphis is buying - and what they're risking. Plus: NCAA fights portal betting, Alabama gets outspent, and conferences talk breakaway.
Mark Haines
January 16, 2026
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IN THIS ISSUE
Good morning. Mark here.
Charles Huff just took his third head coaching job in three years. He's a proven fixer - Southern Miss went from 1-11 to 7-5 in one season under him. But he's never stayed anywhere long enough to prove he can sustain what he builds. Memphis is betting this time is different. We dig in.
Also in this issue: The NCAA is fighting back against prediction markets that want to let people bet on the transfer portal. A Big Ten administrator said the quiet part out loud about the current NIL system ("We are money laundering"). And one researcher found the hidden reason JMU might be outpacing its G5 peers - it's not what you'd expect.
Let's get into it.
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BEST LINKS
NCAA Comes Out Swinging Against Transfer Portal Betting
Prediction markets like Kalshi and Polymarket want to let users bet on where players will transfer. The NCAA isn't having it. Their statement called it "absolutely unacceptable," arguing that student-athletes already face harassment over lost bets on game performance - gambling on their transfer decisions would add even more pressure while threatening recruiting integrity. The NFL has taken a similar stance. Meanwhile, Kalshi's CEO has said the company's goal is to "financialize everything." The battle lines are drawn.
The Hidden Reason Behind James Madison’s Athletics Rise
Most schools bury athletic funding inside vague "student activities" fees. JMU doesn't. They charge a separate, clearly labeled athletic fee - and it's nearly 3x higher than any other school in the country. Only 48 of 137 FBS programs are this transparent about what students pay for sports. Is this why JMU made the CFP? Probably not. But it shows an institution that's all-in on athletics in a way most G5 programs aren't willing to be. Great work from Greg Chick over at NILnomics.
[LINK]
Alabama Is Getting Outspent — And It Shows
Texas is reportedly building the first "$40 million roster" in college football. Alabama is watching targets flip to Austin for deals they can't - or won't - match. Chase Goodbread's column in the Tuscaloosa News makes the case that the Tide's NIL infrastructure is lagging behind Texas, Ohio State, and a handful of programs willing to push valuations to the ceiling. Alabama isn't broke. But in a market where mystique and development no longer close deals, being second-highest bidder means losing. The Saban-era gravity is gone.
Power Conferences Are Openly Discussing a Breakaway
Yahoo's Ross Dellenger reports that frustration over the NCAA and College Sports Commission's inability to enforce tampering rules is pushing power conference leaders toward "conference-only" governance - where leagues enforce their own rules and potentially play only against members.
SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey isn't calling for a breakaway yet, but he's not ruling it out either: "The frustration level is building. I anticipate that there's a lot of people that are saying, 'This might not work for us.'" A Big Ten AD told Dellenger there's support for a model where "each league governs itself and plays only games within the league." Georgia President Jere Morehead went further, arguing that if the CSC won't enforce the House settlement and Congress won't act, "it leaves the SEC in a position that we have to go our own way."
The most damning quote? A Big Ten administrator on the current system: "We are money laundering. All we are doing right now is moving money around."
DEEP DIVE
Charles Huff Took Southern Miss From 1-11 to 7-5 In One Season. Now He's At Memphis, His Third Job In Three Years.
The Pattern
Charles Huff fixes broken programs.
At Southern Miss, he inherited a 1-11 disaster and delivered a 7-5 turnaround in 12 months - one of the biggest single-season win jumps in FBS. Before that, he went 32-20 at Marshall with a Sun Belt title and a road upset of #8 Notre Dame.
Portal reconstruction. Turnover margin. Defensive identity. Year 1 urgency.
It works.
The Problem
Huff has never stayed anywhere longer than four years.
After going 10-3 with a Sun Belt title at Marshall, the program still wouldn't commit long-term - and Huff wanted out anyway. He took the Southern Miss job for a raise, full control, and a contract with easier exit clauses. One year later, he's at Memphis.
The turnaround pattern is proven. The sustainability pattern doesn't exist yet.
The Bet
Memphis is betting Huff keeps going up.
THAT’S A WRAP
On Tuesday, we're heading to Stillwater. Mike Gundy is gone after 20 years, and Eric Morris is tasked with rebuilding Oklahoma State in his image. We'll break down what Morris is inheriting - and what he's up against.
We'll also look at North Texas, where Neal Brown steps in to replace Morris. Two programs, two transitions, one common thread: what happens when the new guy follows a legend versus when he follows a leaver.
If you found this issue useful, forward it to someone who lives for this stuff. Word of mouth is how we grow.
See you then. In the meantime, enjoy the National Championship game, Miami vs Indiana 7:30 pm EST, Monday, Jan 19, on ESPN.
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