Marshall, along with the rest of the college football world, is still waiting to see when and if they will play a 2020 football season. Even though the season is in flux, recruiting can never stop. Eventually there will be football games to be played, and head coach Doc Holliday knows he needs the best possible players on the field in green and white. Today, the Marshall coaching staff reeled in a commitment from one of the most productive offensive football players in the history of the state of West Virginia.

Ethan Payne, a 6’1”, 215 pound running back from nearby Poca High School committed to continue his football playing career with the Thundering Herd. Poca, a AA school less than 45 minutes away from the Marshall campus has produced talent in the past, but Payne’s production surpasses them all. This past December, Payne became the first player in Poca history to win the prestigious Kennedy Award given to the states most outstanding football player.

Payne is currently rated two stars with Rivals.com. He is ranked the number one running back in West Virginia. He said the main reasons he committed to Marshall was, "It is close to home and I love the coaching staff."

Payne is getting set for a his senior year. His season opener has already been cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and then was moved later into the season. Still Payne stays focused for his senior campaign with only one goal in mind, winning a state championship. Payne and his classmates have helped restore a once proud Football tradition with the Poca program. The program had recently set a state record for consecutive losses before Payne and his crew arrived on campus.

Payne's lead recruiter at Marshall was offensive line coach Greg Adkins. Payne was excited to commit to the Marshall staff. "I committed to Coach Greg, and he was very excited." Payne also said that he really was excited to get his commitment settled before the season started. When asked what his personal and team goals were for 2020, Payne added, "I want to win the state championship and the Kennedy again." If he were to win the Kennedy in 2020, he would be the 6th person to ever do it, and the first since Ryan Switzer did it in 2011 and 2012.

Payne put together a stellar junior season at Poca. He led the Dots to a 10 – 0 regular season before falling in the second round of the playoffs. Payne racked up over 2,840 yards rushing on the year and ended the season with 52 total touchdowns. He broke the regular season scoring record held by Penn State, and Seattle Seahawk star Curt Warner who played at Pineville High School.

Warner was also a Kennedy Award winner, earning the award in 1978. Marshall has had a handful of Kennedy Award winners don the Green and White. The most notable being the 1994 winner, Randy Moss. Payne looks to be the first Kennedy Award winner to come to Marshall and be a productive player on the field since Moss.

Marshall has actually secured the services of three of the last four Kennedy Award Winners. Payne, the 2017 winner Mookie Collier, and the 2016 winner Jeremy Dillon. Collier was a walk on who has since transferred to North Carolina Central. Dillon is still with the Herd, just not on the football field. The multi-talented former Mingo Central star suits up for Coach Dan D’antoni for the Thundering Herd basketball team.

Payne is the third commitment for the Marshall Class of 2021. He joins Keegan Davis, and fellow West Virginia native John McConnell, a punter from Morgantown High School. Marshall is going after several of the higher rated recruits in the region, with many of those coming from the 304 area code of West Virginia. Securing local talent has always been a goal of the staff and that has not changed.

Stay tuned to Herdnation.com as we get fans through this pandemic and ready everyone for the 2020 football season and 2021 recruiting season.