Program field guide · 2026

Sun Belt · West Virginia

Marshall

Thundering Herd

Marshall’s West Virginia-developed core grew from 10 to 19 players.

2026 roster · Roster geography

In 2016, 10 of 104 roster spots were filled by West Virginia players with no earlier college team detected. On the 2026 roster, 19 of 105 fit the same definition. Detected transfers went from 4 to 32.

In 2016 the median player grew up 386 mi from campus. Now it is 293 mi.

Of the 32 players who came from another college, 4 are from West Virginia. Those home-state players make up 13% of detected-transfer stock on this roster.

Then → now

2016–18 compared with 2021–25

2016–182021–2510.4%13.5%3.9%22.2%
  • Local-developed core
  • Transfer stock
Measure2016–182021–25
Local-developed core10.4%13.5%
Transfer stock3.9%22.2%

The roster, at a glance

  • 357 miAverage hometown distanceAverage hometown distance among 93 located players.
  • 21.9%In-state21.9% of the roster is from West Virginia.
  • 20.4%Backyard20.4% grew up within 100 miles of campus.
  • 30.5%Detected transfers30.5% of the roster arrived after playing at another school.

Across the FBS

Where Marshall ranks

Most In-State#9421.9%Most Transfers#3930.5%Closest to Home#31357 miFarthest From Home#108357 miBiggest Localism Shift#7421.9%Most Backyard Players#6320.4%Fewest Transfers#10030.5%Biggest Transfer Shift#4130.5%

Homecoming Radius over time

The median hometown-to-campus distance, by season. The dotted line is the FBS median.

0100200300400FBS median (250 mi)200920122016201920232026

Roster composition over time

Where the in-state lens draws the line: local-developed, local transfer, outsider developed, outsider transfer, and unknown. This chart begins where stable athlete IDs make transfer detection possible; the radius chart above carries the official-archive geography farther back.

Local-developedOutsider developedOutsider transfer200920122016201920232026

Where do Marshall's players come from?

SeasonRosterIn-stateTransfer signalRadius
202610521.9%30.5%293 mi
202510621.7%34.9%288 mi
202411712.1%33.3%318 mi
202312512.1%24.8%318 mi
202212410.7%12.9%332 mi
202110316.0%4.9%323 mi
202011115.5%3.6%300 mi
201911412.4%5.3%386 mi
201810510.6%2.9%382 mi
20179911.1%5.1%412 mi
20161049.6%3.8%386 mi
201511613.8%0.9%339 mi
201411014.5%0.9%337 mi
20131049.7%1.0%377 mi
201210512.6%1.9%362 mi
201110713.3%0.0%348 mi
20101018.0%0.0%344 mi
200910313.6%0.0%354 mi

Where the roster grew up

Every 2026 player's hometown, with campus marked and the Homecoming Radius circled.

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Homecoming Radius: 293 mi

(This slider is for exploring — leaderboards use the fixed lenses.)

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