The Marshall Thundering Herd football team is an intercollegiate varsity sports program of Marshall University. The team represents the university as a member of the Sun Belt Conference East Division of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, playing at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level.
Marshall plays at Joan C. Edwards Stadium, which seats 38,227 and is expandable to 55,000. At the end of the 2024 football season, Marshall had a 192–45 record at Joan C. Edwards Stadium for a winning percentage of .810. The stadium opened in 1991 as Marshall University Stadium with a crowd of 33,116 for a 24–23 win over New Hampshire. On September 10, 2010, Marshall played the in-state rival West Virginia Mountaineers in Huntington in front of a record crowd of 41,382. Joan C. Edwards Stadium is one of two Division I stadiums named for a woman. The playing field is named James F. Edwards Field after Joan Edwards' husband, who was a businessman and philanthropist.
History
Early history (1895–1916)
Boyd Chambers was Marshall's head football coach from 1909 to 1916. He is best known for calling the "Tower Play", where one receiver lifted another up on his shoulders to complete a pass, during the 1915 season.
Rick Tolley era (1969–1970) Rick Tolley was Marshall's head football coach for two seasons, coming to Marshall from his post as defensive line coach for Wake Forest and posting records of 3–7 and 3–6. Tolley was killed on November 14, 1970, in a plane crash which killed all 75 passengers, including 37 players, five coaches, administrators, family, friends, and the Southern Airways five-person crew, as it returned to West Virginia after a game against East Carolina.
Jack Lengyel era (1971–1974) Marshall athletic director, Joe McMullen, hired Jack Lengyel to be head coach in 1971. To rebuild following the plane crash, Lengyel recruited athletes from the baseball and basketball teams. Lengyel's record as Marshall's head coach was 9–33.
Frank Ellwood era (1975–1978) Marshall hired Ohio University assistant Frank Ellwood, a Dover, Ohio, native who led the program for four seasons. The team went 2–9 during his first season and 5–6 during the 1976 campaign, a year in which the Thundering Herd upset 20th-ranked Miami (OH) on Sept. 12, 1976 at Fairfield Stadium in Huntington. The Herd had not defeated Miami since 1939. Marshall finished 2–9 and 1–10 in 1977 and 1978, respectively, failing to win a Southern Conference game in either season.
Sonny Randle era (1979–1983) Sonny Randle became head coach following the 1978 season. Randle had been the head coach at East Carolina and Virginia. He went 12-42-1 during his five seasons in Huntington, which included a 5-26-1 record in Southern Conference play. Randle mentored Marshall Athletics Hall of Famer Carl Lee during his tenure.
Jim Donnan era (1990–1995) Led by head coach Jim Donnan, who came to Marshall from his post as offensive coordinator at Oklahoma, Marshall won the Division I-AA national championship in 1992 over Youngstown State (31–28) and was national runner-up in 1991, 1993 and 1995. Marshall set a I-AA record with five consecutive seasons making the semifinals of the I-AA playoffs from 1991 to 1996. Donnan was named NCAA Division I-AA Coach of the Year twice during his tenure at Marshall and resigned after the 1995 season to accept the head football coach position at Georgia.
Bob Pruett era (1996–2004)
Bob Pruett left his post as defensive coordinator at Florida to become head football coach at Marshall, where he served from 1996 to 2004. During his tenure at Marshall, the Thundering Herd compiled a record of 94–23, featured two undefeated seasons, won six conference championships, won five of seven bowl games, and captured the I-AA National Championship in 1996. Marshall moved to Division I-A and the Mid-American Conference in all sports in 1997. The 1996 team, ranked No. 1 all season, was 15–0 and won each game by more than two touchdowns. The 1996 team included future NFL players Chad Pennington, Randy Moss, John Wade, Chris Hanson, Eric Kresser, Doug Chapman. Marshall won the MAC title five of its eight seasons (1997-2000, 2002) and were runners up in 2001 in the conference before moving to Conference USA in 2005.
Since moving back to Division I-A, Marshall has finished in the Top 25 four times, in 1999, 2001, 2002 and 2014. From 1997 to 2000, Marshall appeared in the Motor City Bowl, losing in 1997 to Ole Miss before winning the next three bowl games against Louisville, BYU and Cincinnati. Marshall beat East Carolina 64-61 a double-overtime game in the 2001 GMAC Bowl in Mobile, Alabama. Marshall trailed 38–8 at halftime before rallying behind five Byron Leftwich touchdown passes. Marshall lost 32–14 to Cincinnati in the 2004 Plains Capital Fort Worth Bowl at Amon G. Carter Stadium in Pruett's final game as head coach before his retirement.
Mark Snyder era (2005–2009)
Former Marshall football player Mark Snyder became head football coach, leaving his position as defensive coordinator for Ohio State. Snyder coached Ahmad Bradshaw, Lee Smith, Vinny Curry, Albert McClellan and Cody Slate during his time as head coach at Marshall. Snyder's best season was 6–6 in 2009. He resigned after five seasons that included one bowl berth, the 2009 Little Caesar's Pizza Bowl.
Doc Holliday era (2010–2020) On December 17, 2009, Doc Holliday, an assistant coach at West Virginia University, became Marshall's head coach after signing a five-year contract at $600,000 per season. Holliday led Marshall to a 10–4 season in 2013, capped with a victory in the Military Bowl. In the 2014 season, he led the team to a 13–1 season, winning the school's first C-USA Championship and the inaugural Boca Raton Bowl against Northern Illinois 52–23. In 2015, Holliday led the Herd to their first victory over a Big Ten school after beating the Purdue Boilermakers en route to a 10–3 season, including a win in the 2015 St. Petersburg Bowl. In 2020, Holliday led Marshall to a 7–0 start and a No. 15 Associated Press ranking. A three-game losing streak followed and the team finished 7–3. Marshall won the Conference USA East Division title, before losing to the University of Alabama at Birmingham in the 2020 Conference USA Championship game. Holliday was named Coach of the Year in 2020 by Conference USA. In January 2021, Doc Holliday's contract was not extended.
Charles Huff era (2021–2024) On January 17, 2021, Marshall hired Alabama running backs coach Charles Huff as its head coach. In his first season, Huff led Marshall to a 7–6 record. Marshall lost to the No. 23-ranked Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns 36–21 in the 2021 New Orleans Bowl. The school officially joined the Sun Belt conference in June 2022. On September 10, 2022, Huff led Marshall to their second all-time victory over a top-10 opponent after defeating the No. 8-ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish 26–21 at Notre Dame Stadium. Huff earned his first bowl win as a head coach in the 2022 Myrtle Beach Bowl against the UConn Huskies 28–14, finishing the year 9–4. During the 2023 season, Huff guided Marshall to their first win over the Virginia Tech Hokies since 1940 with a 24–17 victory in Huntington. Despite a 4–0 start, Marshall would finish the regular season 6–6 and lose to the UTSA Roadrunners 35–17 in the 2023 Frisco Bowl to finish the year 6–7. During the 2024 season, Huff guided Marshall to its first Sun Belt East Division crown and first Sun Belt Conference Championship, becoming the first FBS school to win a title for three different conferences, by defeating Louisiana Regin' Cajuns 31-3 in Lafayette, Louisiana, as well as Marshall's first ten-win season since 2015. The day after the win, Coach Huff took the Head Coaching job at Southern Miss after his 4-year contract at Marshall was not renewed.
Tony Gibson era (2025–present) Tony Gibson, the NC State defense coordinator, was hired on December 8, 2024 with a 6-year contract to replace Charles Huff.
Conference affiliations Independent (1895–1924, 1952–1953, 1969–1976) West Virginia Athletic Conference (1925–1932) Buckeye Conference (1933–1938) West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (1939–1947) Ohio Valley Conference (1948–1951) Mid-American Conference (1954–1968, 1997–2004) Southern Conference (1977–1996) Conference USA (2005–2021) Sun Belt Conference (2022–present)
Championships
National championships Marshall has won two NCAA Division I-AA national championships.
1992 Jim Donnan NCAA Division I-AA 12–3 Youngstown State W 31–28 1996 Bob Pruett 15–0 Montana W 49–29
Conference championships Marshall has won 14 conference championships, 13 outright and one shared.
1925 West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Charles Tallman 3–0–2 4–1–4 1928 5–0 8–1–1 1931 Tom Dandelet 4–1 6–3 1937 Buckeye Conference Cam Henderson 4–0–1 9–0–1 1988† Southern Conference George Chaump 6–1 11–2 1994 Jim Donnan 7–1 12–2 1996 Bob Pruett 8–0 15–0 1997 Mid-American Conference 8–1 10–3 1998 8–1 12–1 1999 9–0 13–0 2000 6–3 8–5 2002 8–1 11–2 2014 Conference USA Doc Holliday 7–1 13–1 2024 Sun Belt Conference Charles Huff 7–1 10–3 † Co-champions
Division championships Marshall has ten division championships.
1997 MAC East Bob Pruett Toledo W 34–14 1998† Toledo W 23–17 1999 Western Michigan W 34–30 2000† Western Michigan W 19–14 2001 Toledo L 36–41 2002 Toledo W 49–45 2013 C-USA East Doc Holliday Rice L 24–41 2014 Louisiana Tech W 26–23 2020 UAB L 13–22 2024 Sun Belt East Charles Huff Louisiana W 31–3 † Co-champions
Bowl games
Marshall has played in 20 bowl games, compiling a record of 13–7 through the 2024 season. The Tangerine Bowl was unsanctioned by the NCAA until 1968. As such, the 1948 appearance in the game is not included in the official NCAA bowl listing for Marshall, which lists Marshall having a bowl record of 13–6.Bowl/All-Star Game Records, p. 128
1947 Cam Henderson Tangerine Bowl Catawba L 0–7 1997 Bob Pruett Motor City Bowl Ole Miss L 31–34 1998 Motor City Bowl Louisville W 48–29 1999 Motor City Bowl BYU W 21–3 2000 Motor City Bowl Cincinnati W 25–14 2001 GMAC Bowl East Carolina W 64–612OT 2002 GMAC Bowl Louisville W 38–15 2004 Fort Worth Bowl Cincinnati L 14–32 2009 Rick Minter Little Caesars Pizza Bowl Ohio W 21–17 2011 Doc Holliday Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl FIU W 20–10 2013 Military Bowl Maryland W 31–20 2014 Boca Raton Bowl Northern Illinois W 52–23 2015 St. Petersburg Bowl Connecticut W 16–10 2017 New Mexico Bowl Colorado State W 31–28 2018 Gasparilla Bowl South Florida W 38–20 2019 Gasparilla Bowl UCF L 25–48 2020 Camellia Bowl Buffalo L 10–17 2021 Charles Huff New Orleans Bowl Louisiana L 21–36 2022 Myrtle Beach Bowl Connecticut W 28–14 2023 Frisco Bowl UTSA L 17–35
Uniforms and Logos Traditionally, the logo for Marshall athletics has been usually a green "M" letter logo, usually in trim, on what usually has been white helmets. Kelly and white are the primary colors of the football uniforms. The program also has three logos featuring a bull head mascot, one with the mascot head inside of the "M" logo with the wordmark "MARSHALL", and the other with the stylized "The Herd" wordmark.
Historically, there has also been a black alternate uniform. Historically, the football team has worn a white helmet, with a kelly green stripe surrounded by two white and black stripes across the middle of the helmet, with the "M" letter logo in kelly green with white and black trim; they have also worn a silver, or a kelly green helmet with the same striping as the white helmets, with both the same "M" logo in black (or white trim). For a period in the mid / late 1970s, they also wore a silver helmet which featured a kelly green logo of the state of West Virginia with the "M" logo inside of it.