Jordan Marshall put himself in good company the moment he joined the Michigan football team.
On Nov. 30, 2023, he was named Mr. Football in the state of Ohio. And for the first time since Charles Woodson, that honor went to a player set to leave the state for Ann Arbor.
“You don’t get many opportunities like this,” Marshall said Tuesday. “And for me, it’s, ‘How do I make the most of it?’ You never know what tomorrow holds. You never know what the next day holds. Never know what Saturday holds. But I know each day this week I’m going to go out there and prepare like I’m playing Ohio State, even at practice, and just putting my best foot forward every single day. Because again, this game, for me being an Ohio kid, it just means more.”
Spending his entire childhood in Cincinnati, Ohio, Marshall, now a sophomore running back for the 15th-ranked Wolverines, grew up surrounded by the opposite side of the rivalry — but not necessarily a fan of hometown Ohio State.
Stored away in Marshall’s childhood home, never to be touched again, is a bag of his old clothes. Unlike most kids growing up in the area, that bag contains Georgia merchandise, his Dad’s alma mater.
After going through the recruitment process, Marshall opted to join the rivalry. As he burst onto the radar of coaches across the country while playing for Archbishop Moeller High School, both the Wolverines and Buckeyes offered 16-year-old Marshall a spot.
“I really liked Tony Alford,” Marshall said. “He would probably be one of the reasons that I went there. I didn’t like a few other people, and that’s that’s truly why I didn’t pick there. And I think coach (Tony) Alford would tell you the same he came here and he sees the best head coach in the Big Ten, in college football, and how he carries himself and how he puts himself over the team, and it’s all about culture, and that’s what I wanted to be around.”
Ohio State’s running back coach at the time, Alford, is now Marshall’s position coach at Michigan. According to Marshall, that was one of not enough positives in the attempt to keep him at home. Instead, Marshall decided to deal with the flack, including some from his paternal grandfather, and ended up uniting with Alford anyway.
“It has been fun when people talk crap,” Marshall’s mom, Amy Allphin, told The Michigan Daily Nov. 12. “We’re at all the other places this year, Oklahoma, Nebraska. You just ignore them. My sisters and them get all revved up. And I’m like, we live in Ohio, my kid goes to Michigan. I’ve heard it all. This doesn’t even bother me. I just told Jordan this week. I’m like, ‘Look, I need you guys to win. I have to go back to live in this state.’ ”
To quiet Allphin’s hecklers, Marshall will be one of the Wolverines’ most vital players. Tuesday, he confirmed he’ll be ready to suit up in the season finale. With junior Justice Haynes out for the regular season, Marshall will be the feature back with junior Bryson Kuzdal behind him.
Over the past four years, Michigan’s starting running back has arguably been the most valuable player in every single contest. Hassan Haskins had his five touchdowns, Donovan Edwards broke off two 75-plus-yard runs, Blake Corum gave the Wolverines the lead after Zak Zinter’s injury and Kalel Mullings converted a crucial third down to set up the game-winning field goal.
Saturday will likely necessitate another herculean performance from Michigan’s backfield. And if the Ohioan, Marshall, leads the Wolverines to a fifth-straight win over Ohio State, he’ll be joining the company of Haskins, Edwards, Corum and Mullings as rival-slaying Wolverines heroes.
