Ann Arbor — Michigan receiver Andrew Marsh knows exactly what he wants to achieve this season from a personal standpoint.
Expectations this season are high for Marsh, an honorable mention All-Big Ten last season as a freshman who started eight games and had 651 yards on 45 catches and four touchdowns. Described by new Michigan head coach Kyle Whittingham as a “tremendous talent,”Marsh is the leader in the receiver room both on and off the field.
Whittingham was hired late last December and as the Wolverines were preparing for the bowl game, he made clear his first priority was keeping quarterback Bryce Underwood, who started as a freshman, on the roster. A not-too-distant second priority was making sure Marsh remained at Michigan.
“For me, I kind of wanted to be back here,” Marsh said Friday when asked how much he considered leaving after the coaching transition. “This is somewhere I really didn’t want to leave. It was really more making sure the guys were coming back. We all really wanted to come back together.”
Now that he and Underwood are back, Marsh has set his goals. Michigan hasn’t had a 1,000-yard receiver since Jeremy Gallon’s 1,373 yards in 2013, and Marsh would like to be the next to break that barrier. He also wants to win the Biletnikoff Award given to the nation’s top receiver.
“That’s big for me this year,” Marsh said of the reaching 1,000 yards receiving. “Something I definitely want to accomplish. At least for my personal goal, that’s probably top of the list. The one thing we always say is, you win a championship, everything else will work itself out.”
Whittingham and his staff added players through the transfer portal and made some key pickups at receiver, which certainly has more depth than it did last year. Among the top prospects who transferred in are JJ Buchanan, Jaime Ffrench and Salesi Moa, and they join a room that includes Channing Goodwin, Kendrick Bell, Travis Johnson and Jamar Browder
But Marsh is the centerpiece.
“(Marsh) definitely has a great starting spot,” receiver coach Micah Simon told The Detroit News in April. “He is so talented. He does things that are very natural to him. One of his best attributes is his ball skills and control, so it’s obviously about continuing to build on that. And then it’s just the small things that make a player like that even better, just practice habits and learning to be un-guardable and uncoverable and never losing a rep, always finding a way to be available for the quarterback.”
Entering his second season, Marsh said he’s trying to be more of a leader, not just among the receivers, but for the team. He said he’s got a different approach this season and is projecting more of a “pro style”. What does that mean exactly?
“I feel like the game has kind of slowed down for me a little bit,” Marsh said. “So really just being able to go full speed all the time, every rep, and really just being more intentional throughout practice.”
He’s worked all summer trying to grow his game.
“In a lot of different areas this this off season,” Marsh said. “Like getting off the line of scrimmage and kind of being more creative throughout my route running, and really just being more physical at the top and creating more separation.”
Tight end Zack Marshall met with reporters at the same time Andrew Marsh was made available for interviews on Friday. Marshall didn’t mind one bit that Marsh was surrounded and drawing all the attention while he, at least initially, spoke with one reporter.
“I don’t care,” Marshall said. “I get to be in the offense, shoot, I get to be on the field with him. I got to watch him make a crazy catch against Northwestern. Yeah, I was wide open on my out route. I didn’t care. He caught the ball. You know what I mean? Like everyone gets theirs when we all have success.”
Marshall said Marsh is not buckling under the pressure of expectations.
“He attacks the exact same way when he walked in the first day to now,” Marshall said. “Like, do what you’re told to the best of your ability. No excuses, no explanations. Like be here, be about the team, handle yourself as a professional, and that’s exactly what Andrew Marsh does.
“A lot of guys can could work on emulating that. I mean, kids that come in at 17 years old. They’re not going to be professionals right away. Sorry, like a lot of guys make screw-ups. That’s the real world. Like people aren’t grown up when they show up, but by the time you’re done here, you got to be a man. That’s one of the things that (the late) Greg Harden (a Michigan administrator and mental coach for athletics) taught us. It’s not just growing up on the football field, but growing up outside of here. Andrew Marsh grew up in a day. Like he’s handled it better than anyone I know.”
Marsh wants to be the first 1,000-yard receiver at Michigan since Gallon, but he also knows he’s now on top of every opponent’s scouting report. He doesn’t mind that prospect.
“I’ve thought about it, but I like the challenge,” Marsh said. “To me, this is one of the best conferences, if not the best conference in college football. So, really being challenged and having a good defensive scheme (to face is) something I feel like is only going to push me further.”
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This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Andrew Marsh sets lofty goals in return to Michigan football
Reporting by Angelique S. Chengelis, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Angelique S. Chengelis, The Detroit News | USA TODAY Network
