Marshall University Athletics
BOGACZYK: Legg's QB `Derby' a Four-Horse Race
3/19/2015 12:00:00 AM | Football
By JACK BOGACZYK
HERDZONE.COM COLUMNIST
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - The Kentucky Derby will be run May 2. The Saturday prior to that - the date of Marshall's spring football Green-White Game - Coach Doc Holliday's program needs to have another derby winner.
That's in the four-headed Herd quarterback battle, now that four-year starter Rakeem Cato has finished his record-smashing career. When Holliday's sixth MU team starts its schedule of 15 spring practices next Tuesday, finding the successor to No. 12 will be Job 1.
And veteran offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Bill Legg - over the last three seasons he has schemed and guided one of the most prolific offenses in major-college football - said the race that begins next week needs to reach the wire by that April 25 spring game at Edwards Stadium.
"I think so, yes, I think we need to know who the starter is coming out of spring," Legg said recently in his Shewey Building office. "I think it's important for our football team from a leadership standpoint to come out of spring ball and name a starting quarterback.
"Now, understand, whether it's the starting quarterback or starting right guard or starting free safety, those guys have to continue to do what's necessary through the summer and fall camp to remain that guy.
"However, I do feel that by the end of spring ball we need to say `Johnny, you're going to be the starter and then into fall camp, it's your job to lose. And Jimmy, you don't want to be the backup? You want to be the starter? Then this is what you need to do to beat Johnny out.'
"Cato had to re-compete for his job every spring. I mean, is it fair? Is it reality? Yes it is and no, it isn't. Returning starters have an inherent advantage over the other guys, but they still need to go re-establish themselves as the guy at their position."
There really is no Jimmy or Johnny in this race. It's among Gunnar Holcombe, Michael Birdsong, Cole Garvin and Chase Litton - two juniors and two freshmen. Holcombe was No. 2 to Cato last season, when Birdsong sat out after a transfer from James Madison. Garvin redshirted as a Herd rookie last season. Litton is a promising recruit from Tampa, Fla.
Asked for a pre-spring depth chart, Legg said it "doesn't make any difference to me."
"Gunnar has got an advantage because he got playing experience in games," Legg said. "He played in (nine) games, and there's no question he needs to take full advantage of that experience. Nobody else we have has played in a game for Marshall.
"Now, Michael has been a starting quarterback, but he wasn't a starter at Marshall. Just like Cole has a slight advantage over Chase, as young guys, because Cole has been here for a year and Chase just got here.
"But at the end of the day, it's how they take advantage of those situations and those circumstances to put themselves into position where they're performing at the level we need in order for them to be the guy, or be the backup guy, and so on."
Legg said it's different than a year ago, when the Herd didn't need to choose a No. 2 behind Cato until August camp. This time, it won't be the same offense in which Cato - who started 49 career games, including his last 43 - helped Marshall to three bowl wins and 35 wins, including 23 in the last two seasons.
"You always make changes every year, and that's whether you have guys coming back or not," said Legg, whose offenses have gained 21,245 yards (almost 12.1 miles) in the past three seasons. "So, there will be tweaks just based on simple things we feel can be done better.
"But now you're also changing personnel. And you're not only talking about a particular style of play that Cato played with, but also about a veteran, a four-year starter gone. Obviously, things are going to be different.
"So, a) we need to find out who's the starting quarterback and b) we need to tailor the offense to fit his style - and that's what will happen. We tailored the offense to Cato's style, because he was the best quarterback and then everybody else has to fit into that style, until they become the quarterback."
While the 6-foot-3, 202-pound Holcombe played behind Cato, the rugged Birdsong - 6-5, 239 - impressed enough to be named the Herd's Scout Team Defensive Player of the Year for the looks he provided the other side of the ball in practice. Garvin is 6-1, 212, while Litton is 6-6, 215.
"Holcombe will get the first rep in the first team period on the first day," Legg said. "Where it goes from there? Who knows? I'm going to be rotating them constantly and who's going with A, B, C, and so on. Right now, Gunnar goes first because he was the backup last year. He deserves the opportunity to go out on Day 1.
"But there are going to be days where Birdsong is going to be the first guy in, days where Cole Garvin will be the first guy in, days where Chase Litton is the first guy in, because I'm really excited with what I see from him in the short time he's been here.
"So, all those guys are going to be given an opportunity. The good thing is they all have the skills to be good quarterbacks. The end of the day, the guy who's able to manage the chaos will be the guy who ends up being the starter."
But it's not like the Herd offense only needs to find Cato's successor. Marshall lost six starters on that side of the ball, including center Chris Jasperse, who started every game (53) of his college career, and star slot receiver Tommy Shuler, whose 322 career receptions rank fourth all-time in major-college football.
Legg said sophomore Hyleck Foster - who produced and impressed late last season - will open spring as the No. 1 slot receiver, while senior Deandre Reaves, a backup there last season and also one of the nation's top kick return men, will get an early look this spring at cornerback, Legg said.
The guy who will follow Jasperse was a "next-door neighbor" on the offensive front last season - junior Michael Selby.
"We think we've got four or five guys who could physically play center, but what we're looking for is that leadership, that traffic cop-guy," Legg said. "As we sit down (as a coaching staff) and talk, of the four or five guys who could physically play the position - Mike being one of them - we feel like his experience as a starter (14 games), playing in a lot of games, his understanding of blocking schemes up front, how things are ID'd ... those things would give him an advantage over the other guys when it comes to making all of the necessary calls a center has to make in order for us to function."
Legg said senior running backs Devon Johnson and Remi Watson will be limited to individual drills in spring ball as they bounce back from offseason shoulder surgeries. That means senior Steward Butler will get plenty of No. 1 reps.
Johnson, moved from tight end as August camp began, ran for 1,767 yards and 17 touchdowns and is the nation's No. 3 returning rusher. With Johnson's production, the Herd offense found more balance. Marshall was the only FBS team to gain more than 3,800 yards via the ground (3,807) and air (4,022).
"I'd be a liar if I sat here and said that Devon didn't surprise me," Legg said. "Now, did I know Devon was a good football player? Absolutely. Did I know Devon had a good skill set? Absolutely. Did I know Devon would be a physical presence back there? Absolutely.
"Did I ever dream - in my wildest dreams - that Devon would go out and gain 1,800 yards on the ground and another (121) in the air? No. Did I think he'd be as productive as he was? No. Did I think he'd bring something to that position that would help us win football games? Absolutely. But my first reason for moving him and putting him back there, to be honest, was the (pass) protection standpoint. That was the first reason.
"I knew he'd be a decent ball carrier. He played running back in high school. We'd seen what he could do once he had the ball in his hands when playing tight end. We know he's got running skills and open-field skills. We know he's a physical kid. We know he's got good skills as far as catching the football. But did I think he had the vision and the feet to make the decisions and the cuts to gain 1,800 yards? No way.
"To be honest with you, I thought he'd ram it up in there and get an ugly 4 (yards). And run over people, which he did at times. That's different than being in the open field, running. We'd seen him do that. The other parts? There were two big surprises. One was how quickly he picked things up and, two, we saw things out of him that made him not just a good answer back there, but an outstanding answer back there."
A receiving corps that helped Marshall near the top of a list of freshmen receptions in FBS (by outside receivers Angelo Jean-Louis and Deon-Tay McManus, Foster and tight end Ryan Yurachek) is ready to produce a year after Holliday, Legg and receivers coach Mike Furrey challenged the outside wideouts to step up.
The offensive front needs starters to replace Jasperse and left tackle Trevor Mendelson. Legg and offensive line coach Alex Mirabal will build around Selby, left guard Sebastian Johansson and all-conference right tackle Clint Van Horn and open spring with sophomore Sandley Jean-Felix at left tackle and sophomore Cody Collins in Selby's old spot.
Legg said the challenge isn't as position-directed this spring as it was a year ago, when the outside receivers were on notice.
"Going into last year, we had a lot of guys coming back," Legg said. "And not that we don't have a lot of guys coming back this year, but last year, we had our main pieces coming back -- Jasperse being the brains of the engine up front and Cato also going into a fourth year as a starter. And Shuler, who had two 100-plus (catch) seasons, back-to-back. So, you go back and look at 2013 season and say, `Where are we deficient?' It was outside receiver.
"It wasn't inside, with Gator Hoskins, an outstanding senior year at tight end in 2013, and Shuler, an outstanding junior year. Cato had an outstanding junior year. Chris got all of the offensive linemen in the right spot. So we challenged the outside receivers, collectively, as a group, to force me and force the quarterback to make them a bigger part of the offense.
"And they did ... They did a good job, a very good job. Mike (Furrey) did a great job with them and they took coaching, worked hard and began to make plays that we thought, all along, they were capable of making.
"This year, the challenge has to go to who's replacing Chris Jasperse, to who's replacing Rakeem Cato, to who's replacing Tommy Shuler. Now, all those other cats are going to have to be challenged to continue to improve, not just sit back and say, `I did it once.'
"Hey, we need you to do it all the time, every single day from here on out. The big challenge is who's going to fill those shoes. That, right now, has to be the focus this spring of where we're going."
