Got a good one.
Offensive coordinator David Marsh begins his fourth season in charge of the Texas Southern offense.
In his first season at TSU in 2019, Marsh made an immediate impact on the field as TSU finished fourth overall in the SWAC in total offense with 416.6 yards per game and nearly 3,000 total yards as it marked one of the top offensive finishes in university history and the highest offensive output since 2010. The offense also produced a 1,000-yard receiver in Donnie Corley, who ranks amongst the top 20 TSU career leaders in receptions and yardage, while the quarterback duo of Deandre Johnson and Devin Williams combined for 2,700 yards and 13 touchdowns. Johnson passed for 1,705 yards while Williams finished with 999 passing yards. In less than one season, Marsh revised an offensive unit which averaged nearly 100-plus yards more than the previous season with several high-powered performances. TSU surpassed the 500-yard mark four times in 2019 with a high of 637 yards against Grambling State. Johnson also received an opportunity to continue his playing career on the professional level as he played for the Sea Lions of The Spring League in 2021 and eventually the USFL's New Jersey Generals in the spring of 2022.
During the historic spring season of 2021, Marsh displayed his playcalling versatility as injuries forced TSU to play three quarterbacks over a two-game span. In the first game of 2021, quarterback Thaddeus Peyton came off the bench and went 18-of-22 with a pair of touchdowns while the next week saw true freshman Jalen Brown throw for 281 yards on 21-of-31 attempts and a touchdown.
In the fall of 2021, the Tiger offense took off to another level as they finished second overall in the SWAC as the unit averaged 29 points per game while also averaging 429 yards per contest. The Tigers also ranked second in rush offense (188.1), third in passing (241.2) and first downs (20.1) and fourth in red zone offense (83.7 percent). Freshman quarterback Andrew Body exploded on the scene in 2021 as one of the top players in the SWAC after ranking top 10 in both passing and rushing in addition to second in total offense. Body would eventually finish the season as the TSU single-season record holder in total offense with 265.9 yards per game while finishing second in the SWAC and fourth-all time in single-season passing at TSU with 2,017 passing yards. Senior wide receiver Ke’Lenn Davis also exploded on the scene as the he finished third in the SWAC in receiving yards while freshmen tight end Jyrin Johnson was named All-SWAC.
Marsh arrived at TSU following two successful seasons at Campbell University which included several all-conference players and two freshman All-Americans that were both named Jerry Rice Award finalists as National Freshman of the Year.
In his second season as Campbell’s offensive coordinator, the university transitioned into the Big South Conference as a scholarship program. Although the numbers would be down from 2017, the 2018 squad started string before injuries took hold in the second half of the season.
The offense would be led by two Big South First Team All-Conference wide receivers Caleb Snead and Aaron Blockmon. Snead would go on to be named Freshman All-America and was a finalist for the Jerry Rice Award. Quarterback Daniel Smith also earned All-Big South Second Team honors.
Smith would also become the school’s career leader in total offense by posting 5,411 total yards. A true dual threat quarterback, Smith would also become the career leader in rushing touchdowns (25) and touchdowns responsible for with 56. Other rushing career records Smith broke included yards per rush and yards per game. Smith would not just break the rushing records but also the career passing records: yards, touchdowns, attempts, completions and yards per completion. He also set the total offense per game record with 270.5 yards per game.
Marsh led Campbell’s offense to a banner year in 2017, guiding the Camels to becoming the Pioneer Football League’s top offensive unit, averaging 436.5 yards per game, a school record. CU was also one of two squads in the PFL to average more than 33 points per game, adding the league’s second highest rushing yards per game total at 228.7 yards per game.
Campbell also set a school record for passing touchdowns (21) and passing yards per game (207.8), while hitting the 50 touchdown mark for the second time in the program’s 10 seasons.
Smith was named First Team Freshman All-America by Phil Steele, finishing the 2017 regular season with the fourth-most rushing yards in the country, with his 1,272 yards on the ground leading all FCS freshmen and quarterbacks. Smith also led the nation in rush yards per carry (9.13), while standing second in rushing yards per game, fifth in points responsible for per game, ninth in total offense, 11th in points responsible for, 11th in rushing touchdowns, 17th in all-purpose yards, 18th in total touchdowns, 20th in passing yards per completion and 24th in scoring.
Smith set Campbell single-season records for rushing yards, total offense (3,161), all-purpose yards (1,272) and touchdowns responsible for (30). After just one season, Smith was already Campbell's career leader in touchdown passes with 18. The Leesburg, Va. native rushed for 12 touchdowns on the season, adding 1,889 yards passing.
In addition to being named the PFL’s Offensive Freshman of the Year and Second Team All-PFL, Smith was a finalist for the STATS Jerry Rice Award for FCS freshman player of the year, finishing fourth in the final voting, and was also named to the STATS Walter Payton Award watch list, as well as the College Football Performance Awards' (CFPA) 2017 midseason watch list for the FCS National Performer of the Year Trophy.
Marsh came to Campbell after spending the 2016 season as an assistant at Texas A&M under head coach Kevin Sumlin and offensive coordinator Noel Mazzone.
The Aggies ranked second in the SEC in total yards (6,071) and third in points per game (34.9), while wide receiver Josh Reynolds led the SEC In receiving yards (1,039). Texas A&M went 8-5 overall, falling to Kansas State 33-28 in the Texas Bowl.
Prior to his time in College Station, Marsh was a member of Mazzone’s offensive staff at UCLA, coaching inside receivers with the Bruins from 2013-16, also coaching the offensive line in the spring of 2015. With Marsh’s help, UCLA ranked 23rd nationally in total offense in 2014 (467.8), also standing 34th in rushing yards (209.5), paced by the PAC-12’s leading rusher, Paul Perkins.
With UCLA, Marsh coached NFL Draft picks Thomas Duarte (Miami Dolphins) and Shaq Evans (New York Jets), as well as free agent signee Devin Fuller (Atlanta Falcons), guiding Bruins to all-conference honors five times.