USC Football has promoted Luke Huard from inside wide receivers coach to quarterbacks coach. The move has yet to be formally announced but it is noted on the team’s up-to-date roster and on his coaching profile on USCTrojans.com.
Huard takes over for Kliff Kingsbury, who after one season with USC football made the jump back to the NFL as offensive coordinator of the Washington Commanders.
The Road Ahead for Huard
Huard has been with the Trojans since 2022 and has quickly made his way up the ladder, starting as an offensive assistant in February, but quickly thrust into the role of inside wide receivers coach in March while Dave Nichol was away from the program due to his health. He became the full-time position coach in the spring of 2022. Now he has moved up to coach the team’s most important position. He will be tasked with coaching quarterbacks Miller Moss and Jayden Maiava.
Moss has been in a backup role having played in only a handful of games in his three seasons, but his performance in the Holiday Bowl in 2023 is seen as his coming out party, throwing for 372 yards and six touchdowns. Maiava is the more experienced of the two, starting for UNLV last year before transferring to USC this year.
Huard’s Upbringing
Quarterbacking is a familiar for Huard. He is the youngest brother of NFL quarterbacks Damon and Brock Huard. Luke could have been the best of the lot. He broke their passing records at Puyallup High School, but his career was cut short due to injuries.
Their father, Mike, was inducted into the Washington State Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 1998 and the Pacific Northwest Football Hall of Fame in 2011 after 17 seasons as the head coach at Puyallup High, winning the state title in 1987. His nephew, Sam, is a quarterback at Cal Poly.
Huard coached the quarterbacks at Illinois State from 2009-2012 before becoming the offensive coordinator for the school for three seasons. He worked as a QB coach for Georgia State and Sacramento State until becoming an offensive analyst for Texas A&M where he worked under Jimbo Fisher and current USC offensive coordinator Josh Henson.
Luke Huard’s Time With USC Football
His coaching profile highlights two wide receivers as testaments of his coaching prowess in his previous;
“He tutored wide receiver Tahj Washington who was USC football’s most reliable member of the receiving corps as well as an outstanding special teams player. Washington recorded his first-ever 1,000-yard season posting 1,062 yards on the year and ranked No. 23 nationally in receiving yards. He also ranked first in the Pac-12 Conference in yards per reception (18.00).”
“Huard also coached star freshman wideout and electric returner, Zachariah Branch. Branch was honored as a First Team All-American as a returner (USC’s first-ever true freshman First Team All-American) and earned the Jet Award as the nation’s most outstanding return specialist. USC was victorious over No. 16 Louisville in the Holiday Bowl to end the season.”
Table of Contents