What they[apos]re saying about Huffins: [quote]I think Chris brings a lot of facets to the table for us. He brings world-wide experience and has won championships at every level, from high school all the way up to the Olympics. He is a recruiter and an excellent coach. Chris understands how to coach track and field, and to really know how to do that is a rare quality and makes him very valuable to our program. He is very knowledgeable about what he does and how he does it. We are very fortunate to have him and the future of our program is very bright with Chris on our staff.[quote] --Purdue head coach Lonnie Greene
Chris Huffins came to Purdue as the jumps and multi-events coach after spending a year at Clemson where he was an assistant coach. There, he helped coach seven ACC champions in events including the heptathlon, weight throw, 400m dash and the 4x400m relay. While at Clemson, Huffins helped individuals break the men[apos]s high jump school record, the women[apos]s school and ACC record in the weight throw and the women[apos]s team to a top-10 finish in indoor and outdoor seasons.
Prior to his stint at Clemson, Huffins spent a year as an assistant coach at the University of Oklahoma. With the Sooners, he helped coach several All-Big 12 performers and helped Ti[apos]Anca Mock finish top 10 at the NCAA Championships. Huffins also had one year stints at Eastern Michigan and Boise State where he was the assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at both schools. With the Eagles and Broncos, Huffins coached one national champion, one junior national champion, five All-Americans, 12 conference champions, five school records, two individuals to the Greek Championships, as well as helping bring in a top-ranked recruiting class in program history.
Huffins longest coaching stop was at Cal, as he was with the Golden Bears from 2002 to 2007 serving as the Director of Track and Field and Cross Country. Under his direction, the men[apos]s and women[apos]s teams finished top 20 at the 2007 NCAA Outdoor Championships, including the women[apos]s eighth-place finish. Huffins brought in three recruiting classes that were ranked in the top five nationally by Track & Field News, including one individual that went on to be the school[apos]s first NCAA Champion in almost two decades. He coached 23 All-Americans and mentored individuals to school records in 14 events.
Prior to Cal, Huffins also had assistant coaching jobs at Georgia Tech and Wake Forest when he led numerous ACC Champions and school record holders. He has several years of experience working with USATF as a chairman and on the board of directors, as well as experience with the USTFCCCA on the executive committee.
Huffins is not just an outstanding coach. The new Boilermaker assistant was also a highly decorated athlete. Huffins attended the University of California, Berkeley, where he was the 1991 Pac-10 Conference champion in the triple jump. In 1993, he won the Pac-10 Medal for academic and athletic excellence and was the NCAA and Pac-10 Champion in the decathlon.
Huffins also had success at the world level. He was ranked top 10 in the world in the decathlon every year from 1995 to 2000. Huffins broke the world record in the decathlon 100m dash in 1996 with a time of 10.22 seconds. He went on to compete at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta where he finished 10thplace. At the 1998 Goodwill Games in New York City, Huffins took the silver medal. He followed up that performance with a gold medal at the 1999 Pan-American Games and was the USATF National Champion in the decathlon in 1998 and 1999. He capped his career with bronze medals at the 1999 World Championship in Seville, and the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney.
Chris and his wife Tamika have two sons, Zachary (14) and Jaxon (1) Huffins.