Auburn's Nick Marshall left a legacy in western Kansas -- and more than a few fans
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- For the record, Nick Marshall's grandmother dug Bill Snyder. A lot. Heck, she still does.
"She had mixed feelings (about Auburn) because she really liked coach Snyder," Mark Ledford, the football coach at Wilcox County High in Rochelle, Ga., tells FOXSportsKansasCity.com. "You can see why an old-fashioned country grandma would like coach Snyder. He's not like some of the guys today; he's real genuine.
"We talked one time, and I said, 'He wrote me a letter.' And she was like, 'He wrote me one, too, coach.'"
Ledford laughs. For a few months late in 2012 and early '13, their little world -- Rochelle's population checked in at 1,145 in 2012, according to the census -- was at the center of the Kansas State football universe. Marshall was lighting junior-college defenses on fire with his arms and legs as the quarterback at Garden City (Kan.) Community College in the fall of 2012, averaging 287 yards through the air and another 100 on the ground. The kid was 6-foot-1, could throw a ball 80 yards on a rope and posted a 4.4 40-yard dash, a run-pass gift from the zone-read heavens.
So there was Snyder, an icon in rural Kansas, shaking hands and making nice in rural Georgia. The venerable coach made a visit to Marshall's home, and to his high school, where he spent nearly two hours chatting with Ledford, talking shop.
"We probably talked about Nick less than anything," Ledford recalls. "We just talked about coaching in a small town, and family, and things like that."
Some three days later, a hand-written letter in purple trim arrived in the mail. It was you-know-who, following up.
"And I thought that was so cool," Ledford says.
The letter is still in Ledford's office. Marshall, meanwhile, is at Auburn. Because even if Grandma knows best, she doesn't always get the last word.
The fifth-ranked Tigers, with Marshall at the controls, visit Manhattan on Thursday night in one of the marquee nonconference games of the month, and the first real litmus test as to whether K-State's 2014 season can cross the threshold from "good" to "special."
Snyder, one of the greatest offensive minds of his generation, against Auburn coach Gus Malzahn, one of the greatest offensive minds of his, is delicious enough. But the more interesting subplot might be under center, in both camps.
Because technically, Marshall was supposed to be Jake Waters. Actually, let's clarify that: Marshall was, at worst, supposed to push Waters.
The Wildcat quarterback and Iowa native committed to Kansas State in December 2012. Snyder was still recruiting Marshall out of Garden City well into January 2013. And maybe beyond that, depending on which report you choose to believe.
Ledford says he recalls Snyder having Waters in the fold but still holding a slot out for Marshall and telling the Georgian that he could, indeed, come to the Flint Hills to play quarterback. Then came the notes. According to a May 2013 piece at AuburnSports.com, they were sent over every day via fax to Marshall, for two weeks straight, gently asking him to reconsider his War Eagle commitment.
"I think (Waters) might have been something Nick might've had a question about, and maybe (caused) hesitation," Ledford says now. "You had had Jake, who just won the juco national championship at Iowa Western, it might have raised, for Nick, a few questions of, 'Hey, am I going to play quarterback, or what?'
At Georgia, where Marshall started his collegiate journey in 2011, they'd moved him from signal-caller -- Aaron Murray wasn't going anywhere -- to cornerback. Coach Mark Richt then moved him on in February 2012 after a violation of team rules that reportedly involved stealing money from another student.
"We talked about it," says Colin Lamb, assistant athletic director at Garden City and one of Marshall's academic advisers. "I don't want to go a whole lot into detail with that. He knows it was something (where) he made a mistake, and he's here to help correct those types of mistakes you make in life and you get another chance."
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So the personal and football rehabilitation moved west. Marshall had turned up at Garden City, in part, because then-coach Jeff Tatum had ties to Wilcox County from his days at Georgia Military College. Tatum saw a raw, stratospheric talent -- Marshall still holds the Georgia prep record for career touchdown passes with 103 -- who needed a fresh start and a bit of distance. And 1,300 miles from home was plenty distance enough.
"I'm not sure he had any idea where he was going, to be completely honest with you," Ledford says with a chuckle.
But Marshall knew where he wanted to be, ultimately: Playing quarterback at a Power Five-level program, preferably closer to home.
Marshall was a one-man chain-mover in 2012, accounting for 37 touchdowns (19 rushing), running for 1,095 yards and throwing for 3,142 more while leading the BroncBusters to a 7-4 record.
"He has a good fan following here," Lamb says. "And a lot of people came out to games and (saw) the special talent that he was. You're seeing more Auburn gear around Garden City."
Lamb has been at Garden City for nearly 15 years now. He says that if Marshall wasn't the best they've ever had under center, he sure as heck isn't outside the top three.
"He talked about going to K-State," Lamb says. "He talked about some other schools that were recruiting him, but you could always sense that there was something different when the SEC was calling ... when an SEC school was talking to him, he would perk up a little bit."
Garden City's offensive coordinator was former K-State quarterback and coach Matt Miller, who kept the pipelines to Manhattan open. Baylor hopped on board the bandwagon. Indiana, which had Nick's older brother Antonio on the roster, had offered, too. When Case McCoy was suspended, Texas called, and Marshall, for a time, got burnt orange on the brain.
And yet it was a wild card that was about to become the front-runner. Then-Arkansas State coach Malzahn, a zone-read wizard, saw a gem in Marshall and had extended an offer for him to join the Red Wolves. The system and coaches were attractive enough; the destination wasn't.
When Malzahn's address changed back to the SEC -- he was hired by Auburn to replace Gene Chizik in December 2012 -- the offer came over again, this time to join the Tigers.
"You could just tell, before he committed, that it was going to be Auburn," Lamb says. "In fact, when I would talk with the (coaches) and say, 'Well, he's going to visit here or there,' in the back of my mind, I'm thinking, 'Well, he's going to Auburn.'"
It was all over but the shouting, despite Snyder's best efforts. You know the rest.
"The offense he teaches," Marshall told AL.com last year, "I feel like I fit well in that offense."
Actually -- Malzahn rarely gets these things wrong -- he fit like a glove. The Tigers have run for 200 yards or more in 13 consecutive tilts, the longest stretch in the FBS. Marshall rushed for 1,068 yards last fall and completed 59.7 percent of his throws for another 1,976 yards through the air. This month, he's thrown for 151 yards while converting 56 percent of his tosses through the first two games on the slate.
"A lot of people want to suggest he doesn't throw the ball well, and I think he throws it extremely well," Snyder told reporters last week. "I think he throws it as firmly as you'd like. He can get the ball where it needs to be, and he's such a threat to keep the ball on some of the schemes that they have running with the ball and scramble with it. He's a very multifaceted young guy, and I think a year of experience has just made him that much better."
Auburn coaches -- and fans -- have stressed they'd like to see more accuracy from Marshall in Year 2. Which is kind of funny, because when you fast forward to Thursday, it's about two quarterbacks who might have been teammates -- or rivals -- trying to shake off two different sets of perceptions.
In one corner, it's Marshall, the runner who wants to prove his arm is real. In the other, Waters, the passer who wants you to respect him for his legs.
The latter rushed for 138 yards on 20 attempts at Iowa State, plowing in for the game-winning touchdown with 90 seconds left on the clock. No. 15 rushed for 312 yards on 118 carries last fall (2.6 per pop); he's carried it 37 times for 193 yards in two tilts this fall (5.2). That's a pace for a Marshall-esque 1,158 yards on the ground. Or one very, very long ice bath.
"This game will be a little extra-special for Nick," Ledford says. "I'm sure there are going to be players on (the Wildcats) that he played against, that he'll know. And there'll probably be some folks there (in the crowd) that saw him play.
"Coach Snyder was adamant that he was recruiting Nick to play quarterback. But I think, in the end, it's worked out for both quarterbacks and I think it's worked out for both programs. And I think both programs are better because of those two guys they've gotten out of those junior colleges."
And yet here they both are, sharing a stage. And even Garden City, four hours and change from Manhattan, feels a little divided. After all, you don't forget the quarterbacks who help put you on the dang map.
You can follow Sean Keeler on Twitter at @SeanKeeler or email him at seanmkeeler@gmail.com.
