2020 Team Preview: Marshall Tigers

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The Marshall Tigers have been rich with talent over the past decade. They as a program have produced many college athletes at all levels in the college spectrum. I was able to attend one of their summer practices this past week to see the talent they have to offer for this upcoming season. I was able to chat with Head Coach Terry Bahlmann about the past Tigers who went on to play college sports, (I will try to mention all of them in this article), and the current roster he has now as well as the upcoming season. The reason why this program has had many winning seasons became clear as practice progressed, with so many kids out on the field they are able to split coaches with many different groups, I counted at least six different groups with two coaches at each of them. Marshall’s coaching staff is big enough for this type of structure based on the amount of alumni returning to help out, Bahlmann said he had at least eight there that day along with his current staff. The athletes were not afraid to ask questions when they were troubled with a certain scheme, both coaches and teammates would take the time to explain them, and I did not hear any coach yell the whole time I was there! The Tigers are in a kind of rebuilding/reloading year, they have four returning starters on defense and two on offense. I said reloading because after watching practice, it seemed they had many athletes ready to step up at each position, and a coaching staff with years of experience and success both playing and coaching.

Players to Watch:

Bryce Lance Bryce Lance 6'2" | WR Marshall | 2021 State MN WR/DB- The 20th overall ranked athlete in the State, on our rankings, has had many FBS and FCS offers already, and after his Senior Season, there will be even more. He will be staying at WR for his final season in Marshall and with his routing-running, hands and speed, he will be a big problem for his opponents again.

Grant Louwagie Grant Louwagie LB Marshall | 2021 State MN LB/FB- The 118th ranked athlete, holds a few D3 offers, but given his Senior Season, his stock will also rise. I had Louwagie picked as a sleeper pick from last season on his athleticism and football IQ. Primarily a LB, but will get snaps at FB this year, he has speed and power to be a problem on both sides of the ball, also a great tackler.

Spencer Wambeke OL/DL- this guy should not be slept on, he was the anchor at DT last season, made life very difficult on the opposing offenses run game, he was no slouch in the pass-rush either. He will be playing both ways this year getting some snaps at Guard I believe, he should be turning a lot of heads this year.

Jack Bly TE/DB- Bly will also turn heads this year, his play at DB was impressive last season, many may see him as undersized but he plays much bigger than his height and weight. Bly is a great tackler and is good in pass-coverage. He will also get the chance to play both ways, getting some snaps at TE this year.

Deylin Hasert OL/DL- Currently unranked after missing most last season due to injury, he holds an offer from Iowa State going into his Junior Season. Hasert has pretty good technique on the blocking side, both passing and rushing, and on defense he gets the job done, blowing up plays in the backfield.

Up-And-Comers

QB- Brevin Runia, Jake Eben, & Tyler Maeyert. Each of these guys have good attributes to be playing under-center next year.

RB- Demario Gaines & Chidi Nwakama. Both of these guys stood out at practice, both had good speed and agility coming out of the backfield.

WR- Bryant Paulsen, AJ Toulouse, & Jonah Vierstrate. All of them run good routes, have good hands and have field awareness.

OL- Blake Fogelson did well in the run-blocking from the Guard position.

Tigers in College: Here is the players from Marshall that made it to the next level that played for Coach Bahlmann. (I already apologize if I miss a few)

Austin Saugstad (Basketball) Augustana University

Brad Bahlmann SMSU

Alex Werner SMSU

Thomas Fischer (Baseball) Gustavus Adolphus

Trey Lance Trey Lance QB Marshall | 2018 State MN NDSU