Bond with Mike Hart, current Wolverines helped 4-star Jordan Marshall choose Michigan

The Detroit News
Cincinnati, Ohio — For Jordan Marshall, the plan all along was to wait until July to make his college selection, but when you know, you know, and for the Moeller High standout running back, a visit to Michigan earlier this year was his aha moment.
Marshall, a four-star recruit from Cincinnati and the third-highest-ranked player in the Wolverines’ 2024 class, had serious interest in Tennessee and also considered nearby Ohio State, but once he got in the car with his mother, Amy, after dropping by Michigan in March, he was done looking around.
“I probably knew it was gonna be Michigan sooner than he thought, but I didn't say anything,” Amy said. “When we left Michigan the first time, he was like, ‘Mom,’ and I said, ‘I already know what you’re about to tell me.’
"He said, 'I’m calling the other coaches right now.'”
His mother urged him to sleep on the decision. A few days later, Marshall committed to Michigan on March 21, a big moment for the Wolverines, who have been recruiting Ohio harder, buoyed by their 25-3 record the last two seasons — including back-to-back wins over Ohio State.
Marshall walked into his favorite Skyline Chili restaurant near his high school recently for an early-dinner interview and was decked out in Michigan apparel, a block M on his upper-left chest and maize and blue Nike shoes. An older gentleman stopped and asked if he attends Moeller. For Marshall, the Moeller colors and logos are similar to Michigan, so perhaps he’s hiding in plain sight as one of the Ohio players who got away.
His grandfather is a huge Ohio State fan, his basement devoted to the Buckeyes. Marshall was determined to make up his mind about college on his own, but that doesn’t mean everyone in the family has to like it.
“Yeah, he didn’t talk to him for a little while,” Amy laughed, referring to Marshall’s paternal grandfather.
Grandfather and grandson have since reached détente.
“Recently, he pulled me to the side, and he's like, ‘You know I love you, grandson,’ and I told him I know, and he said, ‘I want you to go for 200 yards when you're playing, but I still want you to lose (to Ohio State) as long as you do good.'”
Many high school players have left Ohio to play for archrival Michigan, which can be difficult in terms of dealing with fan outrage. Marshall, however, said he shrugs off any negative comments that come his way for making this decision.
“This kid has never cared about what other people think,” Amy said. “Never.”
“There's something cool about playing against Ohio State,” Marshall said. “Just thinking about my freshman year and playing in the ‘Shoe, there's gonna be tons of people I know in that stadium there to maybe just watch me. It's just crazy to think about it.”
What the 5-foot-11, 193-pound Marshall wanted was to find the right fit. He enjoyed Tennessee and those visits to Knoxville, but he made a deep connection with Michigan running backs coach Mike Hart. He found Hart’s straightforward approach refreshing and appealing.
“I say it all the time, but we're literally the same person,” Marshall said of Hart. “He knows what I'm thinking before I even have to say it. We can go a week without talking and pick up like there's nothing missed. He doesn’t need to check on me. He knows he has my word. I'm not leaving.”
Marshall has become close with Hart’s children and even posted a photo of him doing a flip opposite one of Hart’s daughters. But, it wasn’t just his closeness with his position coach. He said he felt something different from the players.
“With my class right now, it’s the bond and more of that togetherness we have already,” he said. “We don't need coaches to tell us, ‘You guys need to talk to each other,’ because we do it on our own, and I think that's really special. It was different than Tennessee and Ohio State. I felt like I connected with the people more when I went (to Michigan).
“Even people on campus walking down the street and saying hi. And the players, there was one time I came into a meeting, and I sit behind (quarterback) J.J. (McCarthy), and he turns around and just smiles at me and said, ‘What's up, dude?’ That was cool. It just felt good. Nobody was trying. I wasn't trying to stick out, and J.J. wasn't trying to do that. It was just natural. And I think all the players are like that. Nobody's showboating.”
Marshall has been able to spend time with Michigan’s returning veteran running backs, Blake Corum — a Heisman Trophy candidate until suffering a knee injury in the final home game last season — and Donovan Edwards, who is as much of a threat catching the ball out of the backfield as he is running with it.
He appreciates Corum’s patience when he’s running the ball and praised Edwards’ “clean” route running and wants to add those qualities to his game this season at Moeller, which opens the season Aug. 19 and will play at Detroit King on Oct. 20. Marshall said he also has connected with freshmen Ben Hall and Cole Cabana and is close with fellow 2024 running back Micah Kaapana, a three-star back from Las Vegas.
Summer camper
During a recent camp at Michigan, Hart had Marshall work with Corum one-on-one in pass-protection drills. Corum praised Marshall for being ahead of the game in pass-pro, and they had a long talk about what it takes to succeed with the Wolverines.
“He told me I’m ahead and that it's gonna be amazing when I get here and that (Hart is) gonna take me to the next level,” Marshall said. “(Corum) told me I’ve got to also make sure I’m listening and doing the right thing at all times, because this is one of the main positions here. Like, you're the dude, you got to own it and be a team guy. He said he can't do this without O lineman and without pass-protection, so that was pretty cool.”
Marshall said he has bonded with all the running backs.
“I was in a meeting for spring and we're just talking about normal stuff. Life stuff,” he said. “Nothing football, and it was cool they can talk like that. We can all talk about things and all have different opinions, but at the end of the day, come together. And like Micah, who we recruited and is coming to play, I think we complement each other so well, just another good guy I feel comfortable talking to. When I talk to Coach Hart, it's just this energy that nobody else has.”
Hart is Michigan’s all-time leading rusher with 5,040 yards from 2004-07. Fred Jackson, who was Hart’s running backs coach at UM, is now an analyst with the program and has also had a chance to interact with Marshall.
Records are meant to be broken and Marshall said he wants to beat Hart’s career rushing record.
“Freddy J. was like, ‘Coach Hart, you know when Jordan gets here, he’s breaking all your records,’” Marshall said, laughing. “And Coach Hart, said, ‘You know I'm the coach. He's getting benched before he ever can do it.’”
Marshall and his mother are close. Amy always says to him, ‘I love you most’, and he replies, ‘I love you more.’ Recently, they went together to have those words in script tattooed on the outside of their right forearms, except they reversed the sayings so that he has his mother’s words with him, and she has his.
She has raised a son she describes as being mature since he was a little kid. He appreciates compliments but prefers to hear what he needs to work on to get better at whatever it is he’s doing, whether it’s school — he is good with numbers and likely will pursue a degree in business or accounting — or football.
He won’t be enrolling early because Moeller, a private school, is now allowing early departures, but it’s a complicated process. Besides, he said, there’s plenty he wants to do with his fellow seniors before he heads to Ann Arbor.
“And just like I tell everybody, I'm gonna work as hard as if I'm there or here,” Marshall said. “I'm not worried about that.”