Marshall University Athletics
MCGILL: Beginning of camp is about the new for Herd football
8/2/2019 7:09:00 PM | Football, Word on the Herd
The preseason got underway Friday afternoon
By Chuck McGill
HerdZone.com
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – Psst … football is back.
Here at Joan C. Edwards Stadium on Friday afternoon, under mostly blue skies with a few billowy white clouds overhead and temperatures in the upper 80s, the Conference USA East Division favorites commenced preseason camp. The three-week period, which technically began Thursday morning with informational meetings and move-in day, concludes Sunday, August 25. The day after that will be Monday of game week leading to the August 31 season opener against VMI, which will be here on this same field.
But on this day – Day 1 – football returned to Huntington. It's delightful, right? The heat is still overwhelming; the trees are full and green. But the first sign of fall is this: Marshall football. The offense wore green; the defense had on white. This is still the acclimation period, so the players were still in shorts, as 10th-year head coach Doc Holliday likes to remind anyone who opines about what was seen on the field that day.
That makes the first day of preseason camp about the new. New players, new numbers, new heights and new weights. Derrek Pitts, listed at 6 feet and 189 pounds, is a junior transfer from West Virginia University. Pitts, who will wear No. 1, starred at South Charleston High School, where he won the Carl Lee Award as the state's top defensive back. Carl Lee, if you'll recall, also went from South Charleston High School to Marshall, where he played defensive back, made the National Football League and was eventually inducted into the MU Athletics Hall of Fame.
Pitts is one of the more recent additions to the program. Graduate transfers Fermin Silva (Florida International), Tavin Richardson (Kentucky), Joey Fields (Central Connecticut State), Quinlen Dean (New Hampshire) and Quinton Jordan (Charlotte) made their Herd debuts on Friday. Silva, who will wear No. 9, is a 6-2, 240-pound defensive lineman. Richardson, who will wear No. 10, is listed as a 6-3, 213-pound receiver. Fields, another receiver, is 5-8 and will wear No. 84. Dean, who will wear No. 11, is a 6-0, 230-pound linebacker. Jordan, who will help in the Herd secondary, is No. 29.
"It's fun to get the chance to come out and watch them run around a little bit," Holliday said of the newcomers. "You had the opportunity to be with them this summer, see them go to work and see them run around a little bit. Now you're actually playing the game a little bit. It's fun to watch those new guys come out and run around; it'll be even more fun when we put the pads on Monday. I like what I see to this point. All of those new additions can help us in some way."
There were a slew of number changes. Redshirt freshman receiver Talik Keaton, who wore No. 86 in the spring, is now No. 9. True freshman linebacker Jeremy Smith is No. 12. Another receiver, Stone Scarcelle, has shed No. 45 and moved into the teens with jersey No. 19.
Other new numbers: T.J. Johnson (15), Jamare Edwards (99), Koby Cumberlander (56), Jermane Cross (42) and Kyron Taylor (95).
In the days and weeks ahead, the depth chart will begin to take shape. There is a lot of talent on offense returning, including C-USA Co-Freshman of the Year Isaiah Green (quarterback), the team's top two rushers from last season (Brenden Knox and Tyler King) and one of the most experienced offensive lines in the country. The Herd returns 103 combined starts from its offensive linemen, which ranks seventh nationally behind Oregon, Louisiana, Texas Tech, Iowa State, Michigan State and Boise State. Marshall's top three tight ends also return, as well as an experienced kicker, punt, long snapper and holder.
That talent, and the depth and promise on the defense of first-year coordinator Brad Lambert, are why prognosticators put the Herd atop C-USA's East Division. Now, Holliday and his staff will spend the rest of this month molding the team.
For Holliday, it'll feel more like fall when the pads start poppin'.
"During the acclimation period you try to get everything installed offensively and defensively, and also with special teams, so by the time you put the pads on they have a pretty good understanding," Holliday said.
Chuck McGill is the Assistant Athletic Director for Fan/Donor Engagement and Communications at Marshall University and a seven-time winner of the National Sports Media Association West Virginia Sportswriter of the Year award. In addition to HerdZone.com's Word on the Herd, McGill is the editor of Thundering Herd Illustrated, Marshall's official athletics publication. Follow him on Twitter (@chuckmcgill) and Instagram (wordontheherd).
