Focusing on her foundation, Huff wants to impact local education

By LUKE CREASY lcreasy@hdmediallc.com Sep 2, 2021

HUNTINGTON — When the Huff family landed in Huntington, it started a new chapter not only in their life as a family, but also in the career of Jessica Kern Huff.

Charles, Jessica and their son BJ Huff left Tuscaloosa, Alabama, behind, where Charles served as an assistant coach on the football team, for Huntington, where he became Marshall University’s head coach.

Now, Marshall football’s first lady, who has over a decade and a half of coaching experience herself, hopes to have a major impact on the lives of students in the immediate area and beyond, but not on the field.

“Everywhere we’ve gone I’ve been able to give back. I always want to say this to people that God has blessed us so much with a platform, and I’m just using my platform to help others now,” Huff said.

That platform isn’t just Marshall but also through her namesake foundation, the Jessica Hern Foundation, which has accompanied her through every city the Huff family has called home thus far.

What started as a way to supplement some income for the family turned into a whole mission field where Huff said she saw a need to “be intentional about being relational” by giving back to the community, supporting youth enrichment and empowering women to extend their influence.

Huff spent 16 years as a women’s basketball coach with stops at Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Furman as an assistant coach and Lincoln University and Tennessee State University as a head coach.

Now she’s focusing her efforts on her foundation and making every effort to get involved at the local level, which led to a partnership with the Cabell County school system.

Huff, who grew up in a family of educators, has spoken to administrators and students already in Cabell County, as she attended the principals’ summit prior to the school year beginning and also delivered the keynote address at the district’s summer graduation ceremony.

“That was pretty awesome because it was extremely intimate,” Huff said. “I’ve done graduations and I’ve been a keynote speaker, but this one hit a little different because it really shows you how people in teaching and administrative positions care. They want to see kids matriculate.

” In the future, the Jessica Kern Foundation plans to provide students within the Tri-State scholarships by raising money through local fundraising initiatives.

The objective is to provide assistance to students in need when transitioning from their high school experience to future collegiate endeavors, but even more so to provide an opportunity for someone who might not get it otherwise.



Huff has had success in this realm before, as she established a five-year scholarship for walk-on women’s basketball players at Lincoln University, which helped those student-athletes who didn’t have the benefits that came with an athletic scholarship or full ride but still wanted to pursue their passions.

“We don’t want people who are starting their process or are close to finishing their process to not have a way to walk across the stage,” Huff said. “I don’t want any kid to feel like a fish out of water by any means when it comes to education. You have a right, a God-given right, to live and learn.”

The first scholarship launch locally, she said, was planned for the end of August, and the foundation plans to keep the scholarship going on a semester-by-semester basis.

“We are looking for students that are in need. Your need does not necessarily mean that you are at a four-year institution. You can be at a career and technical school. You could be at hair school looking to get your cosmetology or barber’s license but are just short of paying the bill.”

In addition to the scholarship, Huff said she wants to challenge local families to get involved with the education system, and said she hopes that partnering with the school district creates a wave of change throughout the region.

“What I’m hoping that this partnership does is not just open up our district, but on a larger scale the need for us to be pouring into education, public or private,” said Huff. “It’s going to take great people in those seats to make it happen.”