Small-town pride
D-lineman turns Texas home into Hog territory
Nineteenth in a series pro- filing newcomers on the 2016 Arkansas football team.
FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas freshman Jonathan Marshall wants to become the pride of Shepherd, Texas, as a college football player while spreading the word about the Razorbacks in his hometown.
Marshall, one of the Razorbacks’ big crop of defensive line signees, flipped his commitment late in the recruiting process from Oklahoma State to Arkansas. He’s now a whole Hog. “It was just everything here was better than Oklahoma State on my official visit,” Marshall said. “Arkansas was better academically, socially and athletically than Oklahoma State, so that was the big thing for me over here.”
Now Marshall is promoting Arkansas football in Shepherd, a town of 2,372 people in 2013 according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
“You would be amazed at the number of Hog emblems that are floating around Shepherd right now,” said David Benbow, the Shepherd High School defensive
coordinator the past two seasons. “Jonathan thought it was funny, so he brought me the rubber Hog nose and a set of ears to wear.
“We’re blue and white as a school, but we’re pulling for the Hogs right now.”
Marshall has impressed Arkansas veterans since his arrival on campus early this summer.
“He’s just a beast,” senior linebacker Brooks Ellis said. “He’s going to be really good. He’s jumped out. He’s just huge, and he can lift a lot of weight and moves really well.
“He’s been winning some races in workouts, and he just looks really good. He’s got really good spirit, too.”
Lee Knight, Shepherd High’s defensive line coach the past two years, said Marshall has an amazing heart, loves people and is impressive physically.
“Jonathan’s an athletic freak,” he said. “If you’ve seen anything he’s done since he’s been at Arkansas, you know that’s not earth-shattering news.”
Marshall said the idea of playing big-time college football
hit him as a junior, when a lot of coaches from Power Five schools began scouting him.
“I was trying to outwork everybody in the town, to be the best to come out of that town,” Marshall said.
Marshall has a chance to be the best college football player Shepherd has ever produced, but he’s got competition from Tyler Kolek — the No. 2 pick of the Miami Marlins in the 2014 MLB Draft who was throwing 102 mph as a high schooler — for top athlete.
“Jonathan is as good a kid as we’ve had come through,” Shepherd High football Coach Miles Robinson said. “His personality doesn’t fit his body type. He’s a laid-back, easygoing kid until the lights come on. Then he’s a different type of player.”
Marshall, who weighed 270 pounds in high school and is now listed at 293 pounds on the Arkansas roster, played end and tackle on defense, then added tight end and running back duties for the Class 4A school.
“I have some video of him running the ball, and he would just destroy people,” Robinson said. “For a kid to be built like that, his athletic ability is amazing.”
Said Benbow: “The first time we handed him the ball … he broke through into that second level, and you have never seen safeties and cornerbacks have to make a decision whether or not they really wanted to tackle somebody the way they avoided him.”
Benbow recalled a defensive play in a scrimmage against Bellaire Christian on which Marshall stiff-armed the left tackle and left guard, who were going to double team him, and powered into the backfield.
“He tackled the mesh point, the quarterback and the tailback for a 6-yard loss,” he said. “That is no lie.”
Marshall, who has run a 4.8 seconds in the 40-yard dash, plans to learn from veterans such as Deatrich Wise and JaMichael Winston this season. He is targeted to play the end position the Razorbacks call the “heavy five,” a spot that is expected to provide strong run support, but from which Wise had eight sacks last season, seven in the last four games.
“He’s a tall, linear guy … who is good with his hands,” Arkansas defensive coordinator Robb Smith said.
“Jonathan’s a guy who has great length,” Arkansas defensive
line coach Rory Segrest said. “He’s a powerful guy. I just really thought he’d be a great developmental guy coming in, and he’s got a great skill set.”
Benbow said Marshall is a unique player.
“What I mean by that is this: His skill set with his attitude and just his general happy-go-lucky outlook on life is very rare,” Benbow said. “You get kids that are a level above their competition like Jonathan was, you start dealing with certain types of attitudes that come with it. Jonathan never missed a workout. Jonathan never missed a summer strength and conditioning workout. He never missed an open gym workout to play basketball. He was just there getting better. That’s why he’s where he’s at now, from little Shepherd to the SEC.”
Marshall said his goal this season is pretty simple.
“I want to show the coaches that I have a great work ethic,” he said. “I want to get to know the plays so I can work my way into playing time next year.”
Benbow said Marshall already has made Shepherd proud, and he guaranteed Razorback fans would feel the same way in the coming years.