5/18/2019 football Edit

Kansas: Ken Huff

Ken Huff helped power some great Tar Heels' ground games in the 1970s and was one of the best UNC offensive lineman ever. (UNC Cmmunicationso)

Andrew Jones • TarHeelIllustrated

Publisher

Andrew Jones has covered sports for 26 years, including all major college & professional sports for daily newspapers & national sites. He's done radio and TV & is entering his seventh year at THI.

(Note: THI is naming the greatest former UNC football or basketball player from each of the 50 states. The criteria is the player had to live in the state he represents at some point before arriving at UNC. The duration doesn’t matter, he just had to live there. College and pro careers were factored with a lean toward their UNC accomplishments.)

Ken Huff played high school football in Coronado, CA, but he was born in Hutchison, KS, and lived there for some time before moving. By the time his North Carolina football career had come to an end, Huff had made himself into a terrific player.

A consensus All-America in 1974, Huff was an integral part of the Tar Heels’ offense that ran the ball down opponents' throats and controlled games, including in 1972 when the Tar Heels won the ACC championship.

A defensive tackle when he arrived at UNC, Huff was moved to offensive guard during his second practice and ended up starting for three years for the Tar Heels. He helped lead UNC to Sun Bowl appearances in 1972 and 1974, and that ACC title in 1972 with a final AP ranking of No. 12. He led part of a line that paved the way for three 1,000-yard rushers, including two in 1974.

Huff, who won the Jacobs Trophy in 1974 as the ACC’s top offensive lineman, was the lead lineman of a UNC offense in 1974 that racked up 4,691 total yards, a school record at the time. That Carolina team also scored 364 points, an average of 30.3 per game, and this considering they managed just 12 and 14 in two of their games. The Heels scored 40 or more three times, including totaling 56 in a win over Army.

Huff’s teams went 2-1 versus N.C. State and 2-1 versus Duke. And the 1972 ACC title was the second straight for the Tar Heels, and is the only time the program has ever won consecutive ACC championships on the gridiron.

Among his many honors, Huff was a consensus All-America, 1974 1st-team All-ACC, 1974 Jacobs Blocking Trophy and captain of the College All Stars.

“Ken Huff was the greatest guard in the history of North Carolina…,” former Tar Heel and teammate Bill Span said about Huff in a podcast. “The guy was built perfect to be a bulldozer, a road grader.”

Huff was the No. 3 overall pick in the 1975 NFL draft and played 11 years in the league, eight with the Baltimore Colts and three with the Washington Redskins. He played 145 games starting 104 times plus he started for the Redskins in Super Bowl XVIII, though they lost to the Los Angles Raiders. Huff recovered four fumbles in his NFL career.

Huff was previously inducted into North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame in 2008, was UNC’s ACC Legend at the 2015 conference championship game and his No. 68 is formally honored by the university.