Georgia Tech RB Marshall Transferring To James Madison

HARRISONBURG — The night before its win over North Dakota State in the FCS semifinals, James Madison bolstered its football roster.

Georgia Tech sophomore running back Marcus Marshall announced his intent to transfer to JMU for his final two seasons of college football on Thursday via Twitter. He will be eligible to play in the fall of 2017.

Marshall said he would enroll at Madison in January and participate in spring practice.

“I wanted to play right away,” Marshall said in a phone interview. “I had never redshirted, so I wouldn’t know how to handle sitting out a year.”

NCAA regulations prohibit programs from commenting on unsigned recruits.

Transfers moving from one FBS program to another are sidelined for a full season due to NCAA rules. But players going from FBS to FCS do not have to sit out.

Marshall, out of Raleigh, N.C., said he had a number of schools contact him after he decided to leave Georgia Tech, but ultimately narrowed his choices down to JMU and Iowa.

“Those were the final two that I was deciding between,” he said. “Iowa is also a great football program. I like the coaches there, but sitting out a year turned me away from that opportunity.”

In his two seasons at Georgia Tech, Marshall carried the ball 182 times for 1,278 yards and eight rushing touchdowns. In November, he put together back-to-back 100-yard rushing performances in wins against Virginia Tech and Virginia.

The 5-foot-10, 212-pounder will join a trio of returning running backs — Cardon Johnson, Trai Sharp and Taylor Woods — at JMU for 2017. The only running back on JMU’s current roster due to graduate is Khalid Abdullah.

Marshall said JMU coach Mike Houston didn’t make any him any promises in regards to playing time. Marshall must compete with Johnson, Sharp and Woods for touches.

Johnson, who has missed Madison’s run through the playoffs due to a season-ending Achilles injury, is expected back in time for spring ball.

“I wouldn’t want any promises like that,” Marshall said. “Competition is something you have to deal with no matter where you’re at, so I’m looking forward to it.”

Marshall said he visited JMU on Dec. 9, when the Dukes beat Sam Houston State 65-7 in the quarterfinals of the FCS Playoffs. Sharp was the host for his visit, Marshall said, and answered any questions about the program that he had.

Going into the visit, Marshall said he did have familiarity with the school. Both his mother and father went to JMU. His father Warren Marshall was a running back for the Dukes from 1982-86 and is a member of the JMU Sports Hall of Fame.

“I might actually get the same number he wore,” Marshall said. “But my parents were extremely excited. I grew up with James Madison stuff in the house and they love James Madison. They’re excited for me.”

Marshall said he had been to a few JMU homecoming games while growing up before taking a recruiting visit as a high school senior.

He said none of the JMU coaches that recruited him then are still on staff now, but current JMU running backs coach De’Rail Sims tried to recruit him when he held the same job at Western Carolina.

“I really liked him back then,” Marshall said of Sims. “He seems like a great coach and all the players speak well of him. And to me it’s even more important about how players feel about the coaches than how the coaches present themselves. It speaks for itself when all the players love being around him.”

The final piece of the puzzle for Marshall was the offensive system.

Marshall said the biggest reason for leaving Georgia Tech was its triple-option offense.

“I felt like the offense wasn’t my best fit,” Marshall said. “I felt like I could be more productive in a different system, something where I’d have a little more space to work in.

“With James Madison, I looked at their offense and I had the chance to see it first-hand against Sam Houston State. I really liked what I saw. I felt I could fit perfectly.”

Marshall will be the second George Tech transfer in four seasons at James Madison. Quarterback Vad Lee, who graduated last year, transferred to the program in January 2014 and played two prolific seasons under then-coach Everett Withers.