Why Jordan Marshall, Savion Hiter Chose Michigan Football Over Ohio State in Recruitment

Michigan's dynamic running back duo picked the Wolverines for similar reasons.

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Michigan has the chance to have one of the nation's top running back rooms this season. Jordan Marshall is back and set to lead the charge after nearly eclipsing 1,000 yards last year as RB2 and suffering a late injury.

The Wolverines also have five-star running back Savion Hiter, who has the billing to start right away, if it weren't for Marshall in the room. Between those two alone, Michigan should have a premier rushing attack with new offensive coordinator Jason Beck running the show.

Clearly, both picked Michigan, but for Marshall in particular, being from Cincinnati, Ohio, and winning Mr. Ohio Football, he explained to Rich Eisen why he didn't pick the Buckeyes in his recruitment.

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"My mom always told me to just lead with my heart and I never grew up an Ohio State fan," Marshall told Eisen. "Actually, I grew up a Georgia fan. My dad's from outside of Atlanta. I don't know, I just came up here and I fell in love with it with how Harbaugh did things, the community around here, and the people.

"Truly, it was just the people for me when I was done playing football or something happened to me where I would want to be at and coming back up here every single time you have that feeling it's — you go to a school, my high school for example. I walk in there, I had that feeling. You meet people and you're like, somebody like Savion [Hiter], like that's my guy. You just know right away with certain people, certain places you go and that's what it was when I walked into Michigan."

Tony Alford made it easy for Savion Hiter

As for Hiter, he was the cover-to-cover top-ranked running back in the 2026 recruiting class. He had offers from every college you could think of, and Hiter did take a serious look at Ohio State. But when it came time to choose where he would spend the next three to four years, it was Michigan.

Hiter built a big bond with running backs coach Tony Alford, who came to Michigan from Ohio State. With the bond built with Alford, Hiter couldn't envision himself playing anywhere else, along with agreeing with Marshall's assessment of what Michigan has to offer.

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"Michigan is the only place to be," said Hiter. "I mean, the love here is different. Like what Jordan said, meeting people like him and meeting people like [Tony Alford]. TA is like the best running back coach in the country."

Alford being retained was a big reason Marshall stayed

With Sherrone Moore getting abruptly fired following information coming to light that he was having an inappropriate relationship with a staffer, there were a lot of unknowns facing the Wolverines. Fast forward, Kyle Whittingham was hired and he made a lot of staff changes.

However, he opted to retain Alford, along with Kerry Coombs. Both Marshall and Hiter were in agreement that a big reason they stayed at Michigan was because of Alford.

"Yeah. So, I've had a good relationship with him since Ohio State," Marshall said of Alford. "People were like, "Oh, he chose Mike Hart over you." Never really was true. I liked both of them. I just didn't love Ohio State and I love the culture and what Harbaugh brought to the table. Then I just remember TA getting the job and it was like I don't have to start over again."

Fall camp will open up soon for Michigan and then fans will get to see both running backs in action during a Week 1 primetime tilt with Western Michigan.