After a 3-9 season, Herd fans are left wondering what the future holds for Marshall football. Bob "Kayo" Marcum, athletic director, said in an interview with The Parthenon on Tuesday that the future is promising, but fans have to be patient. "There is a certain mentality of impatience," Marcum said about the dissatisfaction with the season. Marcum, originally from Huntington and a Marshall graduate, has been the athletic director at Marshall since 2002. Marcum said the challenges that faced this year's team were about numbers. There were several players injured, the majority of the team is young, and within the past 11 years the athletic program has been in three different conferences. Marcum said the Herd still is adjusting to Conference USA, which it joined in 2005. "Each time you move into a new conference there is a transition period," Marcum said. Marshall started 46 different players throughout the year, and only eight seniors received significant playing time. "(Mark) Snyder doesn't have the luxury of a lot of seniors," Marcum said. "There were 26 seniors during (Coach Bobby) Pruett's last year." Marcum said the team is rebuilding, and with each year, experience will increase. This past year the team had freshmen backing freshmen. However, next year 17 of the 22 starters will be returning to the field. With a new quarterback and recruits for next season, head coach Snyder and the team will have a chance to start over and possibly regain their glory. He said the Internet also hurts athletics because anyone can express an opinion and start rumors to justify a team's achievements or failures. The Thundering Herd still has many challenges and obstacles to overcome in the upcoming season. "Challenges are always the same," Marcum said. "Our goal should be to become bowl eligible because the team receives an extended season and more practice time." Amid the poor season, the Thundering Herd does have a number of achievements. Marshall had record highs in fan support and turnout. More than 20,000 season tickets were sold this year. "When you lose as many games as this year and you look at the number of people at the games, that's support," Marcum said. Other accomplishments include those of individual players. Junior defensive back C.J. Spillman, who recorded 131 tackles this year to rank in the top three in tackles per game in Conference USA, will return in 2008. Darius Marshall, a freshman, led in rushing with 631 yards, which made him the first freshman to lead the Herd in rushing since 2002.
Rachel Sargent can be contacted at sargent19@marshall.edu.
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