Doc Holliday said Marshall came away “+2” on National Letter of Intent Signing Day.   Marshall was able to sign all of the players it was after plus Holliday and staff were able to convince a couple of recruits who had committed to schools in the SEC and ACC to flip and sign with The Herd.

Michael Johnson, a three-star recruit, had given his verbal commitment to Florida State and the safety from Booker T. Washington High School was ready to play for the Seminoles but Holliday never gave up on him.  Holliday had recruited Johnson’s father out of high school and already had a personal relationship with the highly touted prospect’s family.

“He’s a tremendous young guy who wants the opportunity to play early,” Holliday said. 

Johnson could certainly find a spot on the field for The Herd early on in his career.  Johnson also turned down offers from WVU, Texas Tech, Houston, FIU Kansas State, Ole Miss and Utah. 

Tiquan Lang is another defensive back that chose to play at Marshall rather than a BCS school.  Lang had verbally committed to the University of Georgia but when it came time to sign on the dotted line, he sent is letter of intent to Huntington, not Athens.

“Relationships are everything in the recruiting business,” emphasized Holliday.

While Holliday has gained the reputation as one of the nation’s top recruiters but he was quick to spread the praise for Marshall landing one of the top recruiting classes in Conference USA.

“JaJuan Sieder has done a tremendous job,” praised Holliday.  “He’s right in the middle of all that and he’s the reason we’re being so successful down there (Florida).”

Holliday also brought in former FIU offensive line coach Alex Mirbal late in the recruiting process and he was instrumental in swaying offensive lineman Sandley Jean-Felix to switch his commitment from FIU to Marshall during the final week of recruiting. 

“Hiring Alex Mirbal, he was a high school coach down there for years, that just increases our trust from those coaches down there.”

 Marshall also hung on to offensive line prospect Michael Selby who got a late offer from Georgia Tech.  Holliday said Selby told Yellow Jacket Head Coach Paul Johnson, he was playing at Marshall.

Holliday won’t give up the secrets to landing recruits who had already committed to play at BCS level programs but the lure of early playing time and the chance to be star instead of just another player undoubtedly resonates with recruits. 

Dave Wilson

dwilson@wvradio.com
@DaveWilsonMN
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Comments

  • Mike

    How many will see the field? MU will take anyone that can walk and chew gum. Problem is they cant read and write.

    February 6, 2013 at 8:10 pm | Reply Report comment

    • Rick

      Why so negative? There are a number of good recruits on this list that will help Marshall in the future, but no matter their background, I can gurantee they have more class than you.

      February 6, 2013 at 8:51 pm | Reply Report comment

  • Derek

    Coach recruited Genome and he is a fine young man. Good day for both schools.

    February 6, 2013 at 8:58 pm | Reply Report comment

  • shawn

    I'm a big WVU fan but I like to see Marshall do good when we aren't playing each other. Good class this year and i'm sure Doc will get the ship headed in the right direction. I can say i'm happy both schools are headed in different directions and not playing for a few years. I'm looking forward to different non conference games in the future.

    February 6, 2013 at 9:19 pm | Reply Report comment

    • Larry

      This is the smartest thing I have seen you say yet...Kudos!

      February 6, 2013 at 10:16 pm | Reply Report comment

      • Shawn

        Whether you like WVU/Marshall or not, you should still want your state teams to do well. The thing that gets me is Marshall fans overwhelm the WVU articles and will straight blast the article. I look Marshalls articles almost every day and nobody comments on them at all (not even WVU fans). Why can't people just read it and move on? I mean if you make a point about how good or bad they played then most people can handle that type of comments. But when you start talking about how people are dressing and degrading the coaches/players then I wish people wouldnt comment at all.

        February 7, 2013 at 4:16 pm | Reply Report comment

  • Chad

    Love WVU, don't care for Marshall but I do like Doc and thought it was a huge mistake letting him get away, he is a great recruiter and motivator. Congratulations Doc.

    February 7, 2013 at 7:22 pm | Reply Report comment

  • Wemakerain

    Hey MU ended up with Deontay McManus, he was the WVU crown jewel last year, but didn't make the grades. Hopefully he pans out and makes something of himself after prep school, I would say that's a great get for anybody

    February 7, 2013 at 10:00 pm | Reply Report comment