There have been a few changes in the potential Marshall football roster for next season so I thought it was time for an update. Two veteran players have left the program since spring practice ended, and there are also two late additions to the 2015 recruiting class.
The first week of May saw a ‘double whammy’ for Herd football. First, RB Steward Butler was arrested after an April incident in downtown Huntington. Butler was dismissed from the team the day of the arrest and was indicted last week on felony civil rights and misdemeanor battery charges. Butler would have been a senior in 2015 and ends his Marshall career as the Herd’s 13th ranked career rusher despite starting only one game in his career.
The day after Butler’s arrest, QB Cole Garvin announced his departure via Twitter. While Butler’s departure came out of nowhere, Garvin‘s leaving has been expected since he finished last in the four-man QB competition during spring practice. Last week Garvin said he’ll be attending South Alabama. He’ll have to sit out 2015 as a transfer, when the Jaguars are expected to be quarterbacked by a senior, former UAB starter Cody Clements. Garvin will have two years of eligibility remaining after the 2015 season.
The first addition came the day of the Green-White game. Georgia Military College safety Corey Neely came to Huntington on an official visit. Since the period for signing National Letters of Intent had ended, Neely signed scholarship documents to join former GMC teammate Emanuel Byrd with the Herd. Neely is a 2012 graduate of South Pointe High School in Rock Hill SC. He originally signed with Georgia Southern but never enrolled there and played at GMC in 2013 and 2014. Neely will have 3 years to play 2 seasons for Marshall.
About a month later, work came that the Herd had a commitment from another player who was in Milledgeville GA last season. Instead of coming from Georgia Military, running back Kentavious Thomas is from Baldwin High School in Milledgeville. Thomas was formerly committed to Mississippi State, and was rated by rivals.com as the #66 running back in the 2015 class and the #64 player from Georgia. His eligibility for the 2015 season has not been determined.
The departure of veteran players does not create room for new (not already on scholarship) players on the Herd roster. Of the 25 spaces for initial counters in the class of 2015, 11 have already been used. Those 11 are: QB Chase Litton, WR Raylen Elzy, TE Emanuel Byrd, DE Jerome Dews, DE Blake Keller, DE Damien Dozier, DT Jason Smith, DT Malik Thompson, LB Marquis Couch, LB Shawn Petty and CB Chris Williams-Hall. Petty will be a redshirt junior in 2015, while Byrd will be a true junior. Keller will be a redshirt sophomore and Dews will be a true sophomore. Smith, Thompson and Williams-Hall will be redshirt freshmen and the rest will be true freshmen.
Up to four more spaces may be already filled. RB Keion Davis, WR Kenneth Rawls, DT Ny-Quan Harris and LB Frankie Hernandez enrolled as non-qualifiers in the fall of 2014. There has been no official announcement of their status, but if all four gained their eligibility in the just-concluded academic year then 15 initial counter spaces are filed. Any of these four who are eligible will be redshirt freshmen in 2015.
That leaves 10 initial counter spaces for 21 candidates. These 21 include Neely and Thomas, plus 19 players who signed National Letters of Intent in February. They are running back Delvin Weems, wide receivers Leron Carn, Larry Dunnon, Kenneth Gallmon, Latrell Nieves, Reggie Rogers and Simino Walden; offensive linemen Levi Brown, Jason Jean and Alex Locklear; defensive ends Channing Hames and Ty Tyler; linebackers George Davis, Doyle Grimes and Devontre’a Tyler and defensive backs Hakeem Bailey, Von Davis, Antonio Howard and Roosevelt Lawrence. Devontre’a Tyler is a junior college recruit and like Neely would be a true junior in 2015. The rest would be true freshmen.
With the two departures, the Herd now has 56 scholarship players for 2015 who were on scholarship last season. These include 18 seniors: RB Devon Johnson, RB Remi Watson, WR Davonte Allen, WR DeAndre Reaves, TE Joe Woodrum, OL Tom Collins, OL Sebastian Johansson, OL Clint Van Horn, DE Armonze Daniel, DT Steve Dillon, DT Jarquez Samuel, DT Ricardo Williams, LB D.J. Hunter, LB Evan McKelvey, CB Keith Baxter, S Taj Letman, LS Matt Cincotta and P Tyler Williams. Johnson, Cincotta and Tyler Williams will be true seniors and the rest are redshirt seniors.
There are 14 returning juniors: QB Michael Birdsong, QB Gunnar Holcombe, WR Justin Hunt, WR Josh Knight, OL Eric Ansley, OL Michael Selby, DE Joe Massaquoi, DR Gary Thompson, DT Ryan Riedel, LB Stefan Houston, CB Michael Johnson, CB Corey Tindal, S Tiquan Lang and S A.J. Leggett. Hunt, Knight, Selby, Johnson and Lang will be true juniors and the rest are redshirt juniors.
There are 18 returning sophomores: RB Tony Pittman, WR Hyleck Foster, WR Donquel ‘Gator’ Green, WR Angelo Jean-Louis, WR Deon-Tay McManus, TE Ryan Yurachek, OL A.J. Addison, OL Cody Collins, OL Tyler Combs, OL Sandley Jean-Felix, DE Aaron Plantt, DT Tomell One, LB Raheem Huskey, CB Rodney Allen, CB Antavis Rowe, CB D’Andre ‘Chocolate’ Wilson, S Kendall Gant and K Amareto Curraj. Yurachek, Foster, Green, Addison, One and Rose are true sophomores. The remainder are redshirt sophomores.
There are 6 returning freshmen: WR Emanuel Beal, TE Kellen Harris, OL Fred Binot, OL Nate Devers, OL Jordan Dowrey and DE Ryan Bee. All are redshirt freshmen.
The 57th scholarship player for 2015 is K Nick Smith. Smith went on scholarship in the spring of 2015. He had been with the Herd for two seasons as a walkon so he does not count as an initial counter.
With 57 returning scholarship players and 25 initial counters, Marshall has three spaces left under the overall roster limit of 85 scholarship players. The only walkon players who could fill these three spaces are those like Smith with at least two seasons in the program.
I would think redshirt junior safety Cody Carter would be almost a lock for a scholarship this fall. The other eligible players for these spaces are redshirt junior WR Jack Gammon, and three sophomores: LB Kyle Camacho, LB Blaine Thompson and K/P Kaare Vedvik. RB David Gaydosz and LB Zack Higginbotham are redshirt sophomores but are not eligible for scholarships without being an initial counter because they spent a year at Coastal Carolina and Cincinnati (respectively) before transferring and spending one year at Marshall.
The first week of May saw a ‘double whammy’ for Herd football. First, RB Steward Butler was arrested after an April incident in downtown Huntington. Butler was dismissed from the team the day of the arrest and was indicted last week on felony civil rights and misdemeanor battery charges. Butler would have been a senior in 2015 and ends his Marshall career as the Herd’s 13th ranked career rusher despite starting only one game in his career.
The day after Butler’s arrest, QB Cole Garvin announced his departure via Twitter. While Butler’s departure came out of nowhere, Garvin‘s leaving has been expected since he finished last in the four-man QB competition during spring practice. Last week Garvin said he’ll be attending South Alabama. He’ll have to sit out 2015 as a transfer, when the Jaguars are expected to be quarterbacked by a senior, former UAB starter Cody Clements. Garvin will have two years of eligibility remaining after the 2015 season.
The first addition came the day of the Green-White game. Georgia Military College safety Corey Neely came to Huntington on an official visit. Since the period for signing National Letters of Intent had ended, Neely signed scholarship documents to join former GMC teammate Emanuel Byrd with the Herd. Neely is a 2012 graduate of South Pointe High School in Rock Hill SC. He originally signed with Georgia Southern but never enrolled there and played at GMC in 2013 and 2014. Neely will have 3 years to play 2 seasons for Marshall.
About a month later, work came that the Herd had a commitment from another player who was in Milledgeville GA last season. Instead of coming from Georgia Military, running back Kentavious Thomas is from Baldwin High School in Milledgeville. Thomas was formerly committed to Mississippi State, and was rated by rivals.com as the #66 running back in the 2015 class and the #64 player from Georgia. His eligibility for the 2015 season has not been determined.
The departure of veteran players does not create room for new (not already on scholarship) players on the Herd roster. Of the 25 spaces for initial counters in the class of 2015, 11 have already been used. Those 11 are: QB Chase Litton, WR Raylen Elzy, TE Emanuel Byrd, DE Jerome Dews, DE Blake Keller, DE Damien Dozier, DT Jason Smith, DT Malik Thompson, LB Marquis Couch, LB Shawn Petty and CB Chris Williams-Hall. Petty will be a redshirt junior in 2015, while Byrd will be a true junior. Keller will be a redshirt sophomore and Dews will be a true sophomore. Smith, Thompson and Williams-Hall will be redshirt freshmen and the rest will be true freshmen.
Up to four more spaces may be already filled. RB Keion Davis, WR Kenneth Rawls, DT Ny-Quan Harris and LB Frankie Hernandez enrolled as non-qualifiers in the fall of 2014. There has been no official announcement of their status, but if all four gained their eligibility in the just-concluded academic year then 15 initial counter spaces are filed. Any of these four who are eligible will be redshirt freshmen in 2015.
That leaves 10 initial counter spaces for 21 candidates. These 21 include Neely and Thomas, plus 19 players who signed National Letters of Intent in February. They are running back Delvin Weems, wide receivers Leron Carn, Larry Dunnon, Kenneth Gallmon, Latrell Nieves, Reggie Rogers and Simino Walden; offensive linemen Levi Brown, Jason Jean and Alex Locklear; defensive ends Channing Hames and Ty Tyler; linebackers George Davis, Doyle Grimes and Devontre’a Tyler and defensive backs Hakeem Bailey, Von Davis, Antonio Howard and Roosevelt Lawrence. Devontre’a Tyler is a junior college recruit and like Neely would be a true junior in 2015. The rest would be true freshmen.
With the two departures, the Herd now has 56 scholarship players for 2015 who were on scholarship last season. These include 18 seniors: RB Devon Johnson, RB Remi Watson, WR Davonte Allen, WR DeAndre Reaves, TE Joe Woodrum, OL Tom Collins, OL Sebastian Johansson, OL Clint Van Horn, DE Armonze Daniel, DT Steve Dillon, DT Jarquez Samuel, DT Ricardo Williams, LB D.J. Hunter, LB Evan McKelvey, CB Keith Baxter, S Taj Letman, LS Matt Cincotta and P Tyler Williams. Johnson, Cincotta and Tyler Williams will be true seniors and the rest are redshirt seniors.
There are 14 returning juniors: QB Michael Birdsong, QB Gunnar Holcombe, WR Justin Hunt, WR Josh Knight, OL Eric Ansley, OL Michael Selby, DE Joe Massaquoi, DR Gary Thompson, DT Ryan Riedel, LB Stefan Houston, CB Michael Johnson, CB Corey Tindal, S Tiquan Lang and S A.J. Leggett. Hunt, Knight, Selby, Johnson and Lang will be true juniors and the rest are redshirt juniors.
There are 18 returning sophomores: RB Tony Pittman, WR Hyleck Foster, WR Donquel ‘Gator’ Green, WR Angelo Jean-Louis, WR Deon-Tay McManus, TE Ryan Yurachek, OL A.J. Addison, OL Cody Collins, OL Tyler Combs, OL Sandley Jean-Felix, DE Aaron Plantt, DT Tomell One, LB Raheem Huskey, CB Rodney Allen, CB Antavis Rowe, CB D’Andre ‘Chocolate’ Wilson, S Kendall Gant and K Amareto Curraj. Yurachek, Foster, Green, Addison, One and Rose are true sophomores. The remainder are redshirt sophomores.
There are 6 returning freshmen: WR Emanuel Beal, TE Kellen Harris, OL Fred Binot, OL Nate Devers, OL Jordan Dowrey and DE Ryan Bee. All are redshirt freshmen.
The 57th scholarship player for 2015 is K Nick Smith. Smith went on scholarship in the spring of 2015. He had been with the Herd for two seasons as a walkon so he does not count as an initial counter.
With 57 returning scholarship players and 25 initial counters, Marshall has three spaces left under the overall roster limit of 85 scholarship players. The only walkon players who could fill these three spaces are those like Smith with at least two seasons in the program.
I would think redshirt junior safety Cody Carter would be almost a lock for a scholarship this fall. The other eligible players for these spaces are redshirt junior WR Jack Gammon, and three sophomores: LB Kyle Camacho, LB Blaine Thompson and K/P Kaare Vedvik. RB David Gaydosz and LB Zack Higginbotham are redshirt sophomores but are not eligible for scholarships without being an initial counter because they spent a year at Coastal Carolina and Cincinnati (respectively) before transferring and spending one year at Marshall.
Last edited:
