— By Bill Cornwell
After being named the Sun Belt Conference Preseason Offensive Player of the Year by league coaches last week, Marshall senior quarterback Carlos Del Rio-Wilson is getting more attention.
At last week’s Sun Belt Conference Football Media Days in New Orleans, Del Rio-Wilson said he’s sticking to the basics in favor of focusing on more time in the spotlight.
“I’m not paying attention to a lot of the preseason honors I’ve received,” Del Rio-Wilson said. “I feel that the more you pay attention, the more you get caught up in those things, so I just let them go over my head and not pay much attention. I still have that work ethic to keep driving every day and work harder instead of getting complacent because of these accolades.”
Despite battling nagging injuries toward the latter stages of the 2025 season, Del Rio-Wilson put together a solid campaign for the Thundering Herd and enters 2026 one of only two returning FBS quarterbacks to throw for 2,000 yards, complete 65 percent of passes and rush for another 600 yards — the other being Byrum Brown of Auburn, who accomplished the feat at South Florida.
Del Rio-Wilson leads all Sun Belt returnees in passing yards and rushing yards per game. His 661 rushing yards in 2025 broke a 43-year Marshall single-season record for rushing yards by a quarterback, and he did so while starting 10 of the team’s 12 games. Del Rio-Wilson, who threw for 17 touchdowns with five interceptions and rushed for six scores, accumulated a quarterback rating of 151.8.
Healthier and having worked hard in the offseason to refine some tools, Del Rio-Wilson is striving to be a more effective leader.
“My mindset stayed the same — my passion and drive,” Del Rio-Wilson said. “I still want to come out and dominate in every game. The thing that has changed is my leadership, because I want to be more of a vocal leader to get everybody to that next level and not bring us down.”
Marshall second-year head coach Tony Gibson is pleased with the attention his quarterback is receiving, but notes that personal success leads to team success.
“It’s a great honor for him to get that, but what I’ve told him is that doesn’t mean anything right now,” Gibson said. “If he’s the postseason Offensive Player of the Year, that means we’re in a good spot.”
Marshall football history is filled with high-achieving quarterbacks, such as high NFL draft picks Chad Pennington and Byron Leftwich as well as College Football Hall of Famer Michael Payton and Rakeem Cato, who led Marshall to a 2014 Conference USA Championship.
Del Rio-Wilson would like to be mentioned in such company down the line.
“Hopefully up there with Chad Pennington and Byron Leftwich,” Del Rio-Wilson said. “Only God knows. As long as I show up and do what I do every day and perform to the best of my ability, then we’ll find out at the end of the year.”