'12 CA RB Byron Marshall (Verbal Offer/Oregon LOI)

[lowayne]

Not a huge surprise but it sounds like the visit went pretty for him and ND is sitting well.

[zimmsbg78]

http://www.irishsportsdaily.com/recr...all-recruiting (free)

Notre Dame took part in their final official “camp” practice of the season on Friday. The Irish had a big-time visitor during their final practice, as running back Byron Marshall (San Jose, Calif./Valley Christian) traveled from the West Coast to unofficially visit Notre Dame. The talented four-star running back took time to share his impressions from his visit to South Bend.

“It was real cool, we were there for 10 hours,” Marshall said with a chuckle. “I enjoyed every minute of it, but it was a long day. They wanted to show me everything.”

Running back is a position of great need for the Irish this recruiting cycle. The Notre Dame coaches wanted to make sure they took full advantage of having one of the nation’s best running backs on campus.

“They said they wanted me real badly,” Marshall said. “So they wanted to take advantage of the time they had. I saw all of Notre Dame, which is great. I really liked the school and I really liked the facilities.”

“It’s real old school,” Marshall said admirably of the Notre Dame campus. “I saw the field too, I walked down the stairs and saw the ‘Play Like A Champion Today’ sign. We walked through the tunnel and I just stood on the field and just looked at it. It was crazy. It was a lot but it was real cool.”

Marshall started his day off by heading to the Notre Dame football offices in the Guglielmino Athletics Complex.

“I got there and looked around where they have all the Heisman’s and all the trophies,” described the 5-foot-10 running back. “I saw the weight room and training facilities and everything.”

After walking through the football offices, Marshall and his father headed out to the practice field to watch the Irish football team partake in their final fall camp practice.

“Practice was real cool, real high tempo,” Marshall said. “Coach Kelly was really trying to get after things, especially with this being their last day of fall practice. He wanted them to stay focused and stay sharp.”

Marshall spent much of the practice focusing on the running backs, and their position coach, Tim Hinton.

“I like the way Coach Hinton coached,” continued Marshall. “Today was more of a two-minute drill and a fourth down drill. They did a lot of running yesterday, but I got to see practice, which is what I wanted to see.”

“The practice itself was just real cool,” Marshall said. “They really coach their guys. Some guys might be timid to coach their guys in front of a recruit. These coaches, they get after things tough. If you mess up they are going to get in your face. They are all about perfection, which is great."

Marshall, whose older brother Cameron is the starting running back at Arizona State, has been to a number of college practices. The Notre Dame practice stood out to him as unique in its pace.

“Out of all the college practices I’ve been to it was the highest tempo I’ve seen,” Marshall said of the speed of the Notre Dame practice. “Everyone was really getting after things.”

The California back also spent time watching game film with Hinton, and the two went over the Notre Dame ground attack in full detail. Between what he saw in practice and what he watched on film, the Valley Christian standout believes he has a full grasp of the Notre Dame offense.

“I saw myself in that offense,” he said. “I feel I fit into their offense just fine. They run shotgun and they run the I, which is two great offenses I like mixed into one. Since today was more passing they were splitting their running backs out as a wide receiver.”

“That’s real cool, I like that,” continued the four-star back. “I work on my running backs skills, but I also work on my routes and my hands just as much, which I think is an advantage for me. That was real cool, that was one thing I got out of it.”

The highlight of the day was his one-on-one conversation with head coach Brian Kelly.

“It was the first time I talked to him,” Marshall said of his meeting with the Irish head man. “He is a real cool dude, he seems real smart. He’s all about winning, but you can tell he cares about his players. He will coach you to your full potential.”

Kelly talked to Marshall about his plans for the Notre Dame program.

“He said that he has won everywhere he has coached,” continued Marshall. “He turned Cincinnati around, and he said that Notre Dame was solid, but they haven’t been Notre Dame in awhile. He said that’s definitely going to change and things are going to turn around. The whole talk with him went real well.”

After taking some more time visiting the football facilities and taking a break for lunch, Marshall and his father were able to meet with the academic advisors at Notre Dame.

“After lunch I talked to the academic advisor and how he would set up a plan for an incoming freshman,” continued the San Jose native. “He explained everything for me and answered all the questions we had about the school and the grades and the majors and all of that. It’s cool how they do it, so I won’t have to really decide what I want to do until my second year. So I have kind of a feel for things and would get some time under my belt to find out what’s right for me.”

After spending so much time on campus, Marshall said he now has a much better feel for what Notre Dame has to offer. Next week he will head to Washington and Oregon for an unofficial visit, which at some point will be followed up by an unofficial visit to USC. After he has finishes visiting his top six schools unofficially, Marshall will set up his official visit plans. His hope is to visit Notre Dame for the USC game.

“So many kids are coming out for the game, and I know like half of the guys coming out,” Marshall said of the visitors planned for the Notre Dame/USC game. “I’m looking forward to just hanging out with all the players I’ve met and just kicking it with them. It’s going to be crazy.”

For Marshall, the visits he is taking this summer will have the greatest impact on his eventual decision. The one-on-one opportunities he has received during his unofficial visits have had the most impact on his recruitment. When he makes his official visits, the focus is on getting to know the players and having a good time.

“I just want to see what the school has to offer without my parents and just hanging out with the dudes on the team,” Marshall said.

After getting to see Notre Dame officially, Marshall now has a better feel for what the Irish have to offer. Notre Dame certainly helped themselves with the visit, and will be a significant player for Marshall moving forward.

[Irishsteelersfan]

Relieable poster on IE thinks Marshall will eventually be Irish.

[PDj]

http://www.maxpreps.com/news/article...5e6c45a&page=1

Dazzling running back and uncommitted No. 48 recruit will continue to avoid would-be tacklers as well as chatty image...

[zimmsbg78]

Marshall has planned OV's to Arizona State on September 24th for the Arizona State/U$C game, ND on October 22nd for the ND/U$C game and Oregon on November 26th for the Oregon/Oregon State (civil war) game. He's still in the early planning stages of scheduling OV's to Washington and Cal. Might make a unofficial visit to U$C as well.

Byron says the plan is to take all five of his alloted OV's but a commitment could come after only two or three of them.

[zimmsbg78]

http://www.irishsportsdaily.com/recr...week-in-review (free)

Notre Dame will play arguably its biggest game of the year this coming weekend when it hosts the Trojans of USC. The game is not only for bragging rights between two historic foes, but will also serve as the biggest recruiting weekend of the season. A number of high profile recruits will be taking official visits to Notre Dame this coming weekend. An impressive Irish victory could result in a number of commitments. Last week, Irish Sports Daily spoke to two young men at positions of great need who the Irish would love to have in the Blue and Gold next season. At least one of those players will definitely be attending the USC game on an official visit and the other is definitely a possibility. What have you been missing by not being a member of Irish Sports Daily?

Byron Marshall, RB, 5-10, 195, Valley Christian High School, San Jose, CA took an unofficial visit to Notre Dame during fall camp. He will return on an official visit for the USC game next weekend.

“I went to Notre Dame on an unofficial and I really liked it a lot,” said Marshall. “I was there for about 10 hours on my unofficial so I got to see a whole lot.”

Marshall got to see Notre Dame wrap up its fall practice and also got the opportunity to see a scrimmage. He was impressed by what he saw.

“It was the first real high tempo practice that I saw,” he said. “All of the guys were really getting after it. I didn’t know what to think when I thought about Notre Dame, so I had to see it in person and it was just real cool.”

Marshall talked about his official visit for USC.

“I just wanted to come back and see it,” said the talented Californian. “I’m excited to see how they play, the game and the atmosphere. I’m just excited to see all the coaches again. If I did miss anything, I’m not sure that I did, but if I did I’d like to see that also; but I’m excited to see everything again.”

Marshall is being recruited by Notre Dame assistant coach Mike Denbrock and stays in frequent contact with him.

“He came out here two weeks ago,” said Marshall. “They were on their way to the airport so they just stopped in.”

Marshall’s only other official visit thus far was to Arizona State where his brother plays. He insists that he will make his own college choice and not be swayed by playing alongside his brother.

“I never wanted to go to a school just because of my brother,” he informed. “I wanted to choose the school that is best for me and I could see myself at. If it happens to be there with my brother then that’s cool, it’s a bonus, but he won’t be the reason why I don’t go to a school or do go to a school.”

Marshall has also set up an official visit to Oregon and plans to set up two more, probably to Washington and Cal. He hopes these visits will clarify his decision.

“People ask me all of the time which school I want to go to and the honest answer is that I don’t know,” he said. “I feel like after these officials, I should be able to make a lot better decision.”

[zimmsbg78]

http://notredame.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1281493 (free)

Byron Marshall does not know the offensive linemen that will be blocking for him at the U.S. Army All-American Bowl and in a way doesn't seem to care that much because the San Jose (Calif.) Valley Christian running back is so excited just to have this opportunity.

Marshall, a 5-foot-10, 195-pound four-star prospect by Rivals.com, was presented with his Army game jersey during a presentation at his high school on Wednesday and he said he cannot wait to show off his skills in San Antonio.

"It's crazy," Marshall said. "It's a huge honor. They only take the best players out of the whole country so I feel blessed. I'm going to have a good time, I'm definitely going to go down there and compete so it's definitely something I'm looking forward to.

"It's huge. This is the final game before college. This is it. It's the biggest all-star game to play in and I'm really excited to play there.

"It's going to be fun. It's going to be good to go against some of the best linebackers and see what they have. You get to prove yourself. It's going to be a little different because the line has never worked together before but it's whatever. I'm looking forward to it."

Rated sixth at running back and No. 108 in the 2012 class by Rivals.com, Marshall is especially looking forward to the Army Bowl because he's not caught up in recruiting just yet.

His five favorites are Arizona State, Cal, Notre Dame, Oregon and Washington with USC still being considered and Marshall said he does not plan to make his commitment until even after the Army Bowl. That means he might wait until National Signing Day.

For now, recruiting is not a concern and he's not going to let it be bothersome through the next few months and probably not even when he gets to San Antonio.

"There is no favorite yet," said Marshall, who rushed for about 2,800 yards and 30 touchdowns in his sophomore and junior seasons combined.

"I kind of have my top five schools and I'm going from there. Each of them has something different and something good to offer. I'm just trying to take it all in and see which school fits me best.

"I'm not going to (commit) at the Army game. I'll probably do it after the game. I'm not going to rush to make it. I honestly have no idea. I'm not trying to rush anything or try to hold on to make people wait. I just really don't know."

Marshall, whose brother plays at Arizona State, has already visited with the Sun Devils when they defeated USC earlier this season.

He's planning to visit Oregon for its regular-season finale against Oregon State. Trips to Washington and Cal are also being planned but Marshall has not finalized any dates yet. A big trip is coming up this weekend. Notre Dame is hosting some of the nation's top players for its matchup against USC and Marshall will be in attendance. He's definitely looking forward to seeing what the Irish have to offer on game day.

"I'm excited for it," said Marshall, the highest-ranked uncommitted running back by Rivals.com. "It's a big game because they're playing USC. There are going to be a whole lot of other recruits there so it's going to be fun.

"It's going to be cool to talk with the coaches, see the campus and just see the atmosphere around the game and around the team. That's going to be huge."

Marshall isn't in a rush to make a commitment - but he cannot wait to get to the Army game to prove he's one of the nation's best running backs.

[mlcspinner]

ISDUpdate Irish Sports Daily
California RB Byron Marshall drops Notre Dame from consideration

[mlcspinner]

never made the trip to South Bend

[ChicagoIrish]

damn. guess all the rest of our RB eggs are in the Keith Marshall basket. Keith just posted: "S/O to #NDNation for showing me a great time.. the fans were crazy !!" on his twitter, so there's that.