Nick Marsh officially committed to Indiana over the weekend. Curt Cignetti had his eye on the former Michigan State wide receiver since their game back in October.
Literally.
The second-year head coach of the Hoosiers looked particularly intrigued by the Spartans’ pass-catcher after he scored a touchdown during the second half. It might be the exact moment Coach Cig decided to go after him in the college football transfer portal.
Who is Nick Marsh?
At 6-foot-3, 203 pounds, the Mitten State-native committed to the in-state university as one of the top-25 wide receivers in the recruiting Class of 2024. Marsh chose Michigan State over Pittsburgh, Penn State and Kansas, among others.
He made an immediate impact upon arrival to East Lansing.
Marsh caught exactly 100 passes for more than 1,300 yards and nine touchdowns in two seasons with the Spartans. The physical X wide receiver leans on his strong frame to win through contact. He also thrives in traffic, shows a great burst on the second level and will not hesitate run you over if necessary.
Although Marsh put up solid numbers at Michigan State, his success did not result in wins. As a result, he decided to enter the transfer portal after the ouster of head coach Jonathan Smith.
The highly-coveted wide receiver committed to play at Indiana on Sunday afternoon.
It is a huge get for the top-ranked team in the country. Reload, not rebuild.
Curt Cignetti knows he is special.
This is where things get interesting. College football players often switch teams within the same conference. Nick Marsh deciding to transfer from Michigan State to Indiana is not unusual.
However, there is an interesting wrinkle here.
Marsh scored a touchdown against the Hoosiers in Bloomington on the third Saturday in October. Look at how Curt Cignetti reacted.
I would imagine part of his facial expression stemmed from the collapse of his defense. We know now that it also stemmed from his intrigue toward Marsh.
Cignetti saw him get that wide open against the Indiana defense and made a mental note. He also caught a team-high seven passes for a team-high 64 yards that game. It was one of his strongest performances of his sophomore year and it happened against one of the last four teams still standing in the College Football Playoff. This was after Marsh caught five passes for 78 yards and a touchdown a year prior.
The opposing head coach saw what he can do first-hand. Nick Marsh is going to catch passes from Josh Hoover next season (at least, in part) because of this moment:
Indiana and Curt Cignetti made sure to get their guy!