SBC football media days: Herd's quiet leaders take center stage

Jul 26, 2023
NEW ORLEANS — Owen Porter was unmistakable when he walked into the conference room with a wide-brimmed cowboy hat.
He picked it up on a road trip to Denton, Texas, where Marshall’s football team faced the North Texas Mean Green in October 2021. But he’s a different man now than when he bought the hat.
That was Charles Huff’s first season as the Thundering Herd’s coach. Porter wasn’t the impact player he is now and Cam Fancher, a true freshman at the time, wasn’t anywhere close to being the starting quarterback.
Fast-forward to Wednesday. Those two, picked specifically for their leadership abilities, stood by Huff and represented the Herd at Sun Belt football media days at the Sheraton New Orleans hotel.
“For me, it was, what two guys on our leadership council don’t talk the most?” Huff said on his decision to bring Fancher and Porter. “I’m trying to expose these players to a different side of being a leader, and one of the things you have to be able to do is public address. You’ve got to be able to speak, answer the tough questions and be uncomfortable.”
Porter wore the hat and Fancher sported a double-breasted navy blue suit with hints of green in the pattern as they met with media members covering schools from around the league in one-on-one and group settings as part of the second and final day of the media event. Wednesday featured all the teams from the SBC East Division.
“I’m not a super-talkative guy, neither one of us are, but I’m thankful for the experience,” Porter said, then handed the question off to Fancher.
“It’s a blessing,” the Herd signal-caller said. “I’ve never been to something like this, so I’m just soaking it all in. I’m thankful to be able to represent Marshall the way that I am.”
Fancher, a redshirt sophomore, was the youngest player in terms of class rank to represent their team on the big stage — a testament to how much he’s grown since earning his first collegiate start at the midway point of last season.
“Cam isn’t big on talking and being the question answerer, not a big talk-about-me guy, and this day and a half is going to force him to do that a little bit more,” Huff said. “Owen would rather just play football and not do any media, and both of these guys, to me, represent this team, and they’ve done a good job of being leaders this summer.”
But the time for talking is over. With media day behind them, Huff, Porter and Fancher now turn their attention to the start of fall football practice next week. The players will be the first to tell anyone they’d rather practice the game than talk about it.
Coming off a nine-win campaign in 2022, the Herd’s sights are set even higher for its second season as a member of the Sun Belt Conference.
“Conference champions. If you aren’t shooting for that, then there’s no point in going out there,” Porter said emphatically. “We think we can win every single game, but we aren’t looking past anybody. We are looking at [season-opening opponent] Albany, and they’ve got our full focus. At the end of the day, the goal is a conference championship.”
The road to accomplishing that starts in 37 days, when the Great Danes travel to Huntington on Sept. 2 to begin the regular season.