Former coaches praise defensive back’s versatility
VANCOUVER Nick Marshall has always been able to make plays. Many of those took place while the firstyear Saskatchewan Roughriders’ defensive back was a high school and university quarterback.
It was that playmaking ability which earned high praise from Mark Ledford, who was Marshall’s head coach during four seasons with the Wilcox County (Ga.) High School Patriots, and from Gus Malzhan, who was Marshall’s head coach for two seasons with the Auburn University Tigers.
Marshall led Wilcox County to its only Georgia state championship in 2009 while finishing with a then-state record of 103 career touchdown passes.
“In all of my years of coaching, he was the most dynamic player that I have ever coached and that I have ever really seen,” Ledford said from his home in Tifton, Ga. “There really wasn’t much that he couldn’t do. He was all-state in his junior and senior year and he was an offensive player-of-the-year type of guy.”
Marshall later spent two seasons with Auburn, where he guided the Tigers to the 2013 SEC championship and a berth in the 2014 BCS championship game. Auburn was beaten 34-31 by the Florida State Seminoles despite Marshall throwing two touchdown passes and rushing for another.
“He’s a great competitor and he’s mentally and physically tough,” Malzhan said from Auburn, Ga. “He loved to practice and was a blue-collar worker. He won over 20 games for us over two seasons so that says something for him.”
Marshall switched to defensive back — a position he played in high school and during his freshman season with the University of Georgia Bulldogs — because he felt it was his best chance to make the NFL. He returned to quarterback while spending a season at Garden City Junior College before moving to Auburn.
Over two NFL seasons he dressed for 21 games with the Jacksonville Jaguars and New York Jets as a defensive back.
“He chose to play defence (as a professional) and that tells you a lot about him and what type of athlete he is,” Malzhan said. “Still, I felt pretty strong that he could have played quarterback at the next level and he would have been very successful.”
Marshall has missed five of the Riders’ eight games with a wrist injury, but has made plays when he’s on the field. He returned a pick 66 yards for a touchdown in his CFL debut during a 27-19 win over visiting Toronto Argonauts on June 15.
In Sunday’s 40-27 win over the visiting Calgary Stampeders, Marshall returned an interception 67 yards for a touchdown and rushed for another touchdown while lining up as the short-yardage quarterback in the Wildcat formation.
“There isn’t anything that he does that surprises me,” said Ledford, who was the Wilcox head coach for 17 seasons. “There are some things that he needs to brush up on as a cornerback but he’s gaining confidence the more he plays. Somehow he finds the end zone.”
The Calgary game marked Marshall’s first appearance as Saskatchewan’s short-yardage quarterback. He capped that with a touchdown.
Chris Jones, the Riders’ head coach and general manager, said that Marshall would take over that role instead of using backup quarterbacks Brandon Bridge or David Watford because he’s a superior runner with the ball.
“I’m going to predict that package will grow, if that’s what they are doing (with Marshall),” Malzhan said.
There have been some bumps during Marshall’s first CFL season. In addition to the wrist injury, Calgary’s Davaris Daniels burned Marshall for two of Calgary’s four touchdown receptions on Sunday.
“That’s last week and I’m just worried about this week,’’ Marshall said in advance of Saturday ’s game against the host B.C. Lions. “I’m trying to do something this week. My goal is to always do better than last week.”
Ledford feels Marshall will only get better as the CFL season progresses.
“He’s just getting started,” Ledford said. “He took the ball out of the Wildcat and it was a pretty simple play and he found the end zone. There are so many other ways that he could be utilized.”