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Saquon Barkley has taken the NFL by storm with his uncanny ability to make plays on the ground. Barkley recently won the 2025 NFL Offensive Player of the Year for his stellar first season with the Eagles that powered them to an NFC Championship and a rematch with the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX. But without the sharp eye and unwavering belief of Charles Huff, Penn State’s running back and special teams coordinator at the time, Barkley’s story might be significantly different.
Huff, an alumnus of Virginia-based HBCU Hampton University, was instrumental in flipping Barkley from his initial commitment to Rutgers. At the time, Barkley wasn’t even the top-ranked running back in his home state. That status belonged to Andre Robinson of Bishop McDevitt High School. Barkley, by all accounts, was often ranked second or third in recruiting circles. For many, the choice in a running back from Pennsylvania seemed obvious.
“He wasn’t even the No. 1 RB in the state of Pennsylvania when we got there,” Huff told The Athletic in a retrospective about Barkley in anticipation of the Super Bowl. “Andre Robinson, at Bishop McDevitt High School (in Harrisburg), was. Saquon was like the No. 2 or 3 guy. No one on the staff looked at his high school film and thought this guy was gonna be a generational talent. It was, ‘This guy will be pretty good. Let's take him, but we’ve gotta have Andre.’”
To add to the story, Barkley was set on attending Rutgers.
“I wanted to play for Rutgers growing up. That's the school I wanted to play at,” Barkley said to NJ Advance Media in a 2016 interview. “But I felt like Penn State provided more opportunity for me for the rest of my life. Sometimes you have to grow up and make decisions that are going to impact your life.”
While at Penn State Huff, now the head coach at Southern Miss, saw something in Barkley that wasn’t fully captured on tape. More than just his raw speed or explosiveness, Huff identified something intangible during those early conversations. Barkley had a different mindset—one that would eventually lay the foundation for his meteoric rise.
“We always talked about that Mamba mentality,” Barkley told The Athletic about his conversations with Huff. “Huff helped install that mentality and that confidence in me. He definitely made me work for it, but he knew my goal and the goals that we created for each other, and he held me accountable. He pushed me every single day to be the best person and player that I can be, and I’m forever thankful for him.
From Hampton Walk-On to the #1 Recruiter In the Nation
Huff's journey to becoming one of the nation's top recruiters and an FBS coach was anything but traditional, with roots firmly planted at his HBCU. A former walk-on at Hampton University, Huff transformed himself into a team leader through sheer grit. Starting his college career as a fullback, he played multiple positions—including tight end and guard—before becoming Hampton’s starting center and eventually earning the honor of being a team captain his senior season.
He understood what it meant to outperform expectations and saw in Barkley a similar determination. After a stint and Tennessee State and Maryland, Huff returned to Hampton in 2010 as the offensive line coach and run game coordinator. Four years later, he landed the job of running backs coach and special teams coordinator at Penn State.
Perhaps his journey from walk-on to team captain shaped his approach to his coaching and recruiting philosophy. While an assistant head coach and running backs coach at Alabama, Huff was ranked as the nation’s No. 1 recruiter by 247Sports. In a 2020 feature on his rise by The Athletic. Delon Turner, the father of Alabama recruit Dallas Turner, spoke about what made Huff's recruiting so impactful.
“It was just all real personable.”
Legendary Hampton University head coach Joe Taylor in the same 2020 profile by The Athletic said he wasn't shocked to see his status as a top recruiter.
“He was always very confident and had this great personality. He was a great guy to be around, a born leader and great communicator. He was one of those guys who made coaching a joy. Whenever he walked into a room, he took over. He was always gleaming and so positive and has that knack that brings out the best in people,” Taylor said at the time.
Huff's personality and authenticity resonated with Barkley.
“Coach Huff is a great recruiter,” Barkley said in the 2020 The Athletic profile. “He did a great job of making me understand that it’s bigger than football. It was, ‘We want you to come to this school and be a great player, one of the best to ever do it,’ and that was a goal that we had in common. But also understanding how important the education is for you, not just as a football player but for the rest of your life, and how Penn State will be able to do that for you.”
Installing the “Mamba Mentality”
Once Barkley arrived at Penn State, Huff wasn’t content to simply coach him on the field. Understanding Barkley’s potential, Huff pushed the young running back to develop his mental game and adopt a professional approach to football.
“He challenged me to be a better running back coach because he wanted to be a better running back,” Huff explained. “He was really big into the mental game. We had some meetings addressing some things: How do you go out and challenge yourself even when the competition already says you’re the best? Then, it started to rub off into fall camp.”
That mentality paid dividends. Barkley hit the ground running his freshman season in 2015, racking up 1,076 rushing yards and seven touchdowns. He broke Penn State’s single-season freshman rushing record, earning Freshman All-American honors and the Big Ten Network’s Big Ten Freshman of the Year award.
The rest is history.
A Story Still Being Written
Now, Saquon Barkley is continuing his relentless quest to be one of the best running backs to ever grace the field as he prepares for his first Super Bowl appearance with the Philadelphia Eagles. After a standout season in which he notched 2,005 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns while being named the NFL's Offensive Player of the Year, Barkley’s star has only continued to rise.
Huff’s role in shaping Barkley’s career isn’t lost on the running back. Whether it was crafting a vision of success that extended beyond football or pushing Barkley to adopt a championship mindset, Huff left an indelible imprint on one of the NFL’s most exciting players.
