Marshall football: Herd is forward-focused as new season dawns

HUNTINGTON — After the Marshall football team held its first meeting of fall on Tuesday, Charles Huff said there would be no mention of last year.
The Myrtle Beach Bowl trophy, which the Thundering Herd coach lifted into the air at Brooks Stadium in Conway, South Carolina, last Dec. 19, came out of the trophy case for Huff’s preseason news conference, but not as a talking point.
It sat in the back of the room, opposite Huff and behind all media members present just down the hall from the third-year coach’s office.
Perhaps it was symbolic of Huff’s message that the accomplishments of last year’s team won’t mean much to the 2023 squad, which features 40 new players, as a new season begins.
Twenty-five transfers, five junior college players and 10 freshmen out of high school have joined the Herd. Combine that with the veterans who return from last year’s squad and the result is some version of this year’s team which, if it goes the way the coaching staff would like, will look different next month than it does right now.
The work begins Wednesday, the first day of fall practice.
“The coaches’ goal is to evaluate; the players’ goal is to improve,” Huff said of his approach to the next month of practice. “We don’t play a game tomorrow unless they tell us something has changed; we play a game in 30 days. So, what we have to do is improve over those 30 days.”
Many of the newcomers joined after the conclusion of spring practice, meaning Wednesday will be their first practice in a Marshall uniform. Though some have gone through summer workouts, the dynamic changes when helmets go on for practice.
“We like how they move. We don’t necessarily know how they all play football, so that’s what we’re excited about in terms of evaluating and developing those guys,” said first-year defensive coordinator Jason Semore. “I’m extremely excited about where we are in terms of culture, in terms of leadership and in terms of the relationships that we have within the building.”
Offensive coordinator Clint Trickett said “excited” is always the word used this time of year — before anyone has played a single down, scored any points or won any games.
He used the same word in his meeting with the media, but said that one thing in particular stuck out about this year’s unit.
“We’re deeper than we’ve probably ever been, at least in the three years I’ve been here,” Trickett said. “On offense, in every position across the board, there’s depth, and that’s one thing that we need, the way we practice and because of how our schedule is set up.”
Three of Marshall’s first four games will be played at home and the off week comes especially early for the Herd, just three weeks into the season on Sept. 16. So Marshall is scheduled to play the final 10 games without a bye week.
The Herd opens the season at home on Sept. 2 against Albany and returns on Sept. 23 to entertain Virginia Tech and hosts Old Dominion for homecoming on Sept. 30.