Spring Football update

My phone has been blowing up this spring. Very different feel this spring compared to last spring. Lots and lots of excitement from a lot of different people this year.

Last spring it was abundantly clear that depth was going to be an issue in 2022....and it certainly turned out to be, especially on defense. Depth is something that's rarely been a problem for us. Based on what we've seen thus far.... the roster will be back to normal in 2023. Lots of new faces, some old faces returning to football, and a solid core of returning starters. Things got pretty thin on the sidelines last year thanks to injuries and some unwilling to take directions from their coaches. Looks like there will be plenty of bodies on the sidelines again.

Some new faces that have transferred to Marshall since last season could come in and make immediate impacts this year.

Defense will have two....possibly three P-5 level players roaming around. Eric Perkins will only be a sophomore....but at 6'4" and 285 he was already a stand out last year as a freshman when he stepped in to cover an injured starter. He's already getting attention from Texas, OU, A&M, Texas Tech, TCU, SMU, Ole Miss, Vanderbilt, and UTSA. He will be joined with a transfer who is 6'3" at strong safety/cornerback.

Last season the WR corps had a rough go of it. Inconsistency plagued them....which lead the Mavs to put a bulk of the offense on the legs of JQ Davis and Byrd Robinson. Marshall not having some paydirt WR's is rare...and it was an achilles heel last year. It's still early...but it appears we could see a return to the norm for Mav receivers in 2023. They will be young...but they have size and speed...and early indications show good hands. This would be HUGE for the Marshall offense if their passing game was to return to form.

QB Collier Slone will be back. The guy runs Alvarez's hybrid Wing-T like a field general. In spite of having 2 ball carriers with more than 3,000 yards combined rushing.... Slone still managed over 1,000 yards passing last year. Only 5 INTs on the season. I know some radio commentators stated last year that Marshall COULDN'T pass the ball (they ate those words by game's end). Fact is....we DIDN'T HAVE TO. But 2023 could be cooking up something special.

RB Semaj Gatson was only a sophomore last season and still racked up 600 yards rushing....that's pretty astonishing considering he was third in line after Davis and Robinson. Not saying he's going reproduce what Davis did in the backfield the last 3 seasons...but he appears to be more than ready to be the one in the spotlight. He's shifty and fast.

A potential player (sorry...name escapes me) that played as a RB on the Mav freshman team was a man amongst boys last season. It'll be interesting to see if he lands on the JV roster this year or if he will get his shot at varsity as a sophomore. He's a beast....and if he progresses enough.... having him in the backfield with Gatson could be another two-headed monster like we've seen the last couple of years. Will have to wait and see on that one.

Lots of excitement around. A solid group of returning starters.....but a lot of youth too. Several players have moved up to varsity from JV. The Maverick JV was (5-1) in district play and (6-3) overall.

Looks like the staff will stay mostly intact....only one looks to be leaving....and they are returning to Tennessee to be closer to family. Stability in the staff is something we've sorely needed.

More news as I get it.

GO MAVS GO!

There sure have been a lot of transfers to Marshall from Elysian Fields and Waskom and it sounds like they are all going to be starters.  Guess Marshall has forgotten how to grow their own football players.

Looks like the running attack is going to pickup where we left off. Samaj had some good runs . Passing game is still up in the air. Defense looked ahead of where they were this time last year.