Prep Football: Marler goes with Morthland
Like most high school student-athletes, Tylor Marler's recruitment process wasn't all that different.
The Harrisburg High School senior wasn't even sure if he would go to college, not so much because of his athletic ability, but because of financial problems.
Marler filled out a recruiting page and from there, he said, "things just took off."
After the dust settled, Marler settled on upstart Morthland College where he recently signed a National Letter of Intent to play football.
"I've always wanted to play college football and I think this is a good start for me with them starting a new program," Marler said. "I think I can help build from the ground up at Morthland and hopefully after two years, transfer to a bigger school."
Marler has his eyes and sights set on something like SIU, Illinois State or even Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau, Mo.
"I know I can play football at the next level," Marler said.
The outgoing senior credited current head coach Al Way on his return to the Bulldogs and his scheme to get Marler more touches.
This season, Marler had 1,369 yards on 165 carries playing the tailback position. He averaged 152.11 yards a game and 8.30 yards a carry. He finished the season with 16 touchdowns and his long run of the year was an 80 yarder.
"He put our team together from scratch and I'm blessed to have him as my head coach. Morthland has a few programs that I am interested in and they all seem to fit into my schedule pretty well. I have above average speed and strength," Marler said.
"I have some good size to me, good balance. They haven't had much of a run game in the last couple of years and I really think I can bring that to them."
Gone from the Patriots is Mike Rude, who essentially started the football program at Morthland just a few years ago. In is Michael Popovich, a former offensive and recruiting coordinator for Army Sprint Football and the head coach at Mt. Zion High School for the past three seasons.
Popovich is a spread offense kind of guy and that's one thing that has already got Marler excited.
"They run a different offense than what we have seen here. It's more of a spread than the straight T and I think I can do a lot more out of spread than I could out of the straight T."
If there is an area of concern for Marler, he has already recognized the need and desire to get physically bigger.
"College is a faster pace with harder hitting and harder running. So, yeah, I just need to get bigger, faster and stronger."
Michael Dann covers prep and college sports for the Harrisburg Daily Register. Follow him on Twitter: @spydieshooter.