Jordan Marshall’s rise into a Michigan football captaincy says plenty about where the sport is headed, and about the kind of player Michigan believes he is. The Wolverines running back met with the media during fall camp and laid out what the honor means to him, while also explaining how leadership in college football has changed along with the roster churn around the game.
The old model leaned on fifth-year seniors and players who had spent years earning their stripes. Marshall sees a different reality now, one where younger players can step into those roles if they’ve earned the trust of the room.
"I think things have just changed, the college football landscape," Marshall said. "And quite honestly, I don't think your leaders are always the older guys.
It gives people a chance that leave after their third year to be a captain. So, it's exciting just to have your teammates look at you in that light and trust you to make those decisions as a captain and be there for you.
It's humbling."
For Marshall, the captaincy carries extra weight because it was part of the conversation long before it ever became real. He said Albert Karschnia, who recruited him, texted him the other day, and that they had talked about him wanting to be a captain before he was even committed. Getting there now, after the grind of Big Ten football and the setbacks he has dealt with, hit him hard.
“Albert Karschnia, who recruited me, he sent me a text the other day," Marshall shared. "We were talking about it before I was even committed here about that was something I wanted to do.
It kind of just got me choked up a little bit because I've truly worked my butt off to be in the position I am. I've been through a lot of adversity through the time I've been here.
Again, there's two types of people. They either walk away from it or they face it."
Marshall also said he looks to former Michigan standouts like Blake Corum and Ben Bredeson as examples of how to lead. In his view, leadership is not just about production on Saturdays. It is about daily habits, how a player carries himself with teammates, and how he treats people in and around the facility.
That standard remains the same in Ann Arbor, even as the faces in charge get younger. With Team 147 pushing through double sessions and building toward the opener on September 5 against Western Michigan, Marshall is trying to set the tone the way Michigan wants its captains to do it: by raising the level of everyone around him.
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