Marshall’s multi-year team captain call rare at Georgia Tech

In the long and storied history of the Yellow Jackets program, the team’s current quarterback has accomplished a relatively rare feat.

On Wednesday, the Georgia Tech football team named their team captains for the upcoming 2018 season. This year’s picks were senior quarterback TaQuon Marshall and linebacker Brant Mitchell.

In the 126 year history of Georgia Tech football, only seven players had been given the honor of being named a team captain in multiple seasons. This week, TaQuon Marshall became number eight on that list.

According to a release from Georgia Tech Athletics, Marshall’s back-to-back reign as a team captain puts him in rare company. He joins H.C. Neblett (1931-32), Renso Perdoni (1969-70), Lucius Sanford (1976-77), David Lutz (1981-82), Steve Pharr (1991-92), Joshua Nesbitt (2009-10) and Justin Thomas (2014-16) as one of only eight multi-year team captains in the school’s history. The feat also makes him the third Paul Johnson quarterback to make the list.

A senior next season, Marshall transitioned to the quarterback position in 2017 when Matthew Jordan was battling injury. In his first campaign as Tech’s field general, Marshall threw for over 900 yards and rushed for another 1146. He accounted for 29 touchdowns, including 10 through the air, 18 on the ground and one as a receiver.

“There is no higher honor than being selected as a team captain by your teammates, so I’m happy for TaQuon and Brant,” head coach Paul Johnson said. “I think they’ll do a terrific job of leading our team.”

Brant Mitchell, also a senior, had 51 total tackles and a sack last season. He also had 1.5 tackles for a loss during the 2017 season. Team captain status makes Mitchell the team’s defensive leader, a role that could prove even more important that usual as the Jackets transition to a new defensive coordinator. This will be Mitchell’s first time as team captain.

This year’s team captain decision comes much earlier than last year when Marshall was given the honor for the first time. The 2017 team captain vote came in October.

Paul Johnson felt that with so many seniors on board, the time was right. “With 20 seniors on our roster, I felt that it was important to go ahead and select two team captains now to lead us through our offseason program. We’ll add a third captain in the fall,”  Johnson sad.