HUNTINGTON — Marshall head coach Charles Huff credits a lot of his coaching skill and tendencies to time spent with longtime friend Ricky Rahne, the head football coach at Old
HUNTINGTON — Marshall head coach Charles Huff credits a lot of his coaching skill and tendencies to time spent with longtime friend Ricky Rahne, the head football coach at Old Dominion.
The path for each in the coaching ranks collided first at Penn State, where they were assistants together under James Franklin, who still coaches the Nittany Lions. However, their competitive nature now extends far past their days at State College.
Now, they find themselves coaching against each other, leading their own programs at Marshall and Old Dominion in each coach’s first season in the Sun Belt Conference after leaving Conference USA.
“Obviously, last year we had a chance to play them here and came out on top in a close battle,” Huff said of a 20-13 overtime win for the Thundering Herd in 2021. “I’m looking forward to the chess match between two of the most competitive people you’ll ever meet on Saturday.”
Huff and Rahne each spoke highly of each other, but their friendship has taken a turn in recent years, a change brought about by the fact that as long as they are at their current schools, they will face off annually due to being in the same division in the same conference.
“I’m not a person who has a ton of friends, or at least a ton of close friends, so the ones I do have, I would love to be able to communicate with them on a weekly or semi-weekly basis,” Rahne said. “But when you play somebody each and every year and you compete against them on the recruiting trail, your relationship isn’t the same. You can’t talk about those things.”
This week marks the second meeting between the two as head coaches of their respective schools. Rahne is in his third year with the Monarchs, who did not play in 2020 due to COVID-19. Huff is in his second year with the Herd and edged out a win a season ago.
“I wish we didn’t play each other because that means somebody has to win and somebody has to lose,” Huff said. “Obviously, anytime you get to to play somebody you have a lot of respect for, it’s important.”
Rahne spoke in a similar way when asked about his ongoing friendship with Huff, saying that if the two weren’t going head to head, they’d be able to talk more about the game and bounce ideas off each other.
“Not because either one of us aren’t going to answer the questions the other would ask, but both of us have too much respect for the other to ask the question,” Rahne said. “I think that’s where I wish we weren’t playing each other because both of us would use each other as a resource.”
Heading into Saturday’s game, the Monarchs are sitting at 3-5 on the year but are a game ahead of Marshall in the East Division due to their record in league play (2-2).
The Herd is 4-4 overall but just 1-3 against Sun Belt opponents, setting the scene for another competitive battle between two friends-turned-foes as head coaches.
