Head coach Sherrone Moore gave some pretty high praise for one of his freshmen.
The Michigan Wolverines will be without a legend at the running back position in 2024. Out is Blake Corum, a two-time All-American and Michigan’s all-time rushing touchdowns leader. He has been one of the program leaders over the last few years and had a handful of iconic moments during his four-year college career.
Corum embodied what it is to be a Michigan man — his work ethic was unmatched, he gave back to the community, oh, and he was a star on the gridiron.
Even though Corum is now in the NFL, Michigan isn’t shorthanded when it comes to talented players who know that hard work will get you where you want to be. Speaking at Big Ten Media Days on Thursday, head coach Sherrone Moore sees this mindset in one of his first-year players.
“Jordan Marshall — he has a little bit of the Blake Corum mentality and skillset in him, so I’m super excited about him,” Moore said.
In case you are unfamiliar with him, Marshall is a former four-star running back in Cincinnati, Ohio. He attended high school at Archbishop Moeller and ran for 1,550 yards and 17 touchdowns his senior year. He ultimately chose the Wolverines over Ohio State.
Before he resigned from his position at Michigan, former running backs coach Mike Hart also compared Corum and Marshall in a conversation with On3’s Clayton Sayfie .
“Jordan is a special, special … I mean, he’s special,” Hart said. “He’s like Blake. Talk about a replacement for Blake: It’s Jordan Marshall, as far as who he is as a person. He’s a great teammate, and the way he carries himself is really, really special. His family (is special, too).
“I just think overall he can do everything, just like Blake from the standpoint of he can play on third down, he can catch the ball, he can block. He’s the whole package. First and second down, he can run through people, he can run around people, he can do everything he needs to do to be successful.”
If Marshall truly is just like Corum, the Wolverines are going to be set at the running back position for a long, long time.
Notes on other freshmen
- Out of all the freshmen defenders, Moore is most excited about edge rusher Dominic Nichols. “Big, long athlete. Goofy as can be, funny as can be, but dude can play. Super excited to see what he does.”
- Moore also spoke about the two incoming wide receivers, I’Marion Stewart and Channing Goodwin. “Two guys I’m excited to watch. Those guys are really electric, have some ability. Whether they play early or not, we’ll see, but excited about them.”
- Moore said quarterback Jadyn Davis did a “really good job of handling things” and made plays every time he was in the spring game. Davis is still learning the playbook and adjusting, but it sounds like he is on the typical freshman path.
- Michigan has five offensive linemen coming in as true freshmen — Blake Frazier, Ben Roebuck, Luke Hamilton, Jake Guarnera and Andrew Sprague — and Moore said he is “super stoked” about all of them.
- Finally, Moore called the class as a whole “a mature group.”