The Sun Belt has fined Marshall for the school’s decision to opt out of the Independence Bowl.
Marshall said it couldn’t play in the Dec. 28 game against Army due to a lack of players. The Thundering Herd won the Sun Belt title game over Louisiana and was set to play the Black Knights in one of the better matchups of bowl season. But an impending coaching change led to player departures and the school backed out of the bowl game two weeks before.
As a result, the conference said Friday that Marshall had been fined $100,000.
“While the conference acknowledges the medical model and best practice guidance adhered to by Marshall, as well as their fundamental concern for the health and safety of the remaining eligible student-athletes to compete in a safe and viable manner, the nature and timing of this decision was detrimental to the Sun Belt Conference and its membership, to Army, the Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl, the American Athletic Conference and ESPN,” the conference said in a statement.
Marshall’s decision led to the Independence Bowl asking a 5-7 Louisiana Tech team to play an 11-2 Army squad. Unsurprisingly, the Black Knights won 27-6.
In a very rare move across college football, Marshall coach Charles Huff coached the 2024 season in the final year of his four-year contract with the school. As the end of the year approached, Huff was mentioned as a candidate at Southern Miss — another team in in the Sun Belt — and the Eagles quickly moved to hire Huff at the conclusion of the regular season.
As a result, numerous Marshall players hit the transfer portal. The school cited the number of players in the portal as the reason why it couldn’t play the game.
Many of those players have committed to Southern Miss to play for Huff. At least 16 former Marshall players have committed to USM since the transfer portal opened.
