Wide receiver Nick Marsh doesn’t plan to be an ordinary sophomore. How do we know? Because he is still with Michigan State football.
LAS VEGAS — Nick Marsh leaned into salad and chicken and dropped his body fat percentage from roughly 11% to 4.8% this past year. He leaned into more water, too.
It’s a rite of passage for young athletes these days, when they drop the food they love. For most young players, the change in body mass would be the highlight of an offseason.
Not for this star Michigan State football receiver, who was no ordinary freshman. Marsh doesn’t plan to be an ordinary sophomore, either.
How do we know?
Because he is still a Spartan. He had all manner of offers after he led MSU in receiving yards (649) and catches (41) –both school records for a freshman. That he took less money to stay in East Lansing says as much about his dedication to his body.
Or more.
Think about it. MSU won five games last year with new coach Jonathan Smith, freshly hired from Oregon State. And in the era of transfers portals and NIL monies, a shooting star at a rebuilding school is often a lock to bolt.
Not Marsh.
“All money is not good money,” he said Thursday, July 24, at Big Ten football media days at Mandalay Bay Resort. “I'm building something here at Michigan State – a foundation, a brotherhood, a family. I think that's more important than money. I think family and God is more important than materialistic things."
All money is not good money?
That came from the mouth of an 18-year-old. But then he wore a bow tie and a vest under his tangerine and light-gray plaid suit. He drove to Detroit to pick it up before heading to Vegas. Not many sophomores get asked to come to these things.
'I think we’re gonna put more on his plate'
Conference media days – especially those a couple thousand miles from campus, as this one was in Vegas – are generally reserved for seniors. Upperclassmen, at least. Marsh was aware of the honor and its significance, and he wanted to represent the privilege, even though, as he said, he downplayed it a bit to his mother, who was thrilled when she found out.
Smith was thrilled to get Marsh back, of course, and understood the message it sent.
“It means a lot,” he said. “He had opportunities. But it goes back to him believing in our approach. I do think he has a great chance to flourish at this place, leave a legacy. I think we’re gonna put more on his plate regards to moving him around. We can’t just let him sit at one outside position. The defense (will) know where he’s at. We’re going to challenge him that way, to continue to add versatility within the offense.”
Marsh will see different coverages. He’ll see doubles – “clouded” coverage – which is to say defensive coordinators will shade defensive backs Marsh’s way.
He welcomes this – not surprisingly – and was quick to point to the additions in MSU's receiver room which should make it harder for defenses to focus solely on him.
“You know, we have Chrishon McCray, Omari Kelly, Evan Boyd, Rod Bullard, Alante Brown,” he said, naming wideout and tight end transfers from (respectively) Kent State, Middle Tennessee, Central Michigan and Valdosta State before arriving at Brown, entering his sixth college season and third at MSU. “We’ve got some young guys in the room, too.”
Still, Marsh understands the scouting report starts with him, and he has worked hard to slow his mind so he can better read the defense pre-snap: Where is the safety shaded? How are the cornerbacks lined up? Where are the linebackers positioned?
And then, once he’s made the read, he can make the decision on which route to run.
'I left a lot on the table'
He started to do that late last season. He felt more comfortable with it in spring ball. Now he’s ready to take it to the fall.
“I left a lot on the table. But I did the best I could. This upcoming season there’s a lot of things I can fix,” he said. “That’s going to be a big thing for me this year.”
Marsh could be the second-best receiver in the Big Ten this season, behind otherworldly fellow sophomore Jeremiah Smith of Ohio State. He also could’ve taken that talent to just about any school. But he didn’t want to leave his coach, or the program.
Mostly because when he looks at Smith, he sees a good deal of himself.
“He’s very quiet. He’s very to himself,” Marsh said. “But that’s very much like me. We have that in common. And then it’s his vision. He may not speak a lot. You may not see him speak a lot. But when you talk to him personally, one-on-one, and when he talks to the team, you see his vision. The way he goes about everything is something that I look up to because that’s what men do.”
Contact Shawn Windsor: [email protected]. Follow him @shawnwindsor.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan State football's Nick Marsh sees himself in Jonathan Smith\
Category: General Sports