With UR spring game on Saturday, it's go time for speedy Spiders cornerback Markus Vinson
A University of Richmond sophomore projected to rise and shine this season rushed for 1,976 yards, scored 42 touchdowns, and clocked 4.41 in the 40-yard dash as a high-school senior.
He led his team, the Damascus High Swarmin’ Hornets, to a pair of Maryland state football championships.
Markus Vinson won't be running the ball for the Spiders. He'll play cornerback, and Vinson doesn't view that as a bad turn on his road to game-day impact.
When he committed to Richmond out of Damascus High, Vinson knew that his days as a ball-carrier were done, despite his impressive run as a Swarmin’ Hornet. Vinson was 5-foot-11 and about 175 pounds when he pledged allegiance to Richmond.
Even with the 10 pounds gained since, that’s still mighty light for an every-down FCS tailback. Plus, the Spiders are well-stocked at that position with veterans Xavier Goodall (junior), Gordon Collins (senior), Deontez Thompson (junior) and Jay Palmer (junior).
There are times, Vinson acknowledged, that he misses running back. “But I’m starting to like defense a lot more,” he said before a recent spring practice. Progressively, tackling appeals to him.
Several Division I schools offered Vinson a scholarship, and almost all saw him as a college cornerback, the position at which he was named all-state in Maryland as a Damascus senior.
“I figured since they saw my speed, they figured I could probably cover anybody that we played against,” said Vinson.
When the Spiders wrap up their 15 offseason sessions with Saturday’s 1 p.m. spring game, Vinson will be one of two new cornerbacks in UR’s 4-2-5 system. Tafon Mainsah and Jarriel Johnson were senior regulars last season.
“Coming into the spring, I was really anxious to get out there with the starters,” said Vinson, who primarily played special teams in 2017 as a true freshman. “Now that I’m out there with them a lot, I’m really comfortable compared to last year, when I really didn’t know what I was doing.
“I feel like I’m going to be just fine.”
Second-year UR coach Russ Huesman classified Vinson’s spring as “great."
The Spiders staff, according to Huesman, recognized Vinson's ability to be part of the secondary rotation as a true freshman last season. But Richmond had those two senior starting corners, and they stayed healthy for all 11 games (6-5, 4-4 CAA).
"It was hard to get (Vinson) the playing time that we should have got him,” said Huesman.
Vinson was a recruit caught in a coaching change. He orally committed to Richmond before his senior year of 2016, when Danny Rocco was Spiders coach. By the time signing day arrived in early February of 2017, Rocco had moved to Delaware and Huesman was UR’s coach. Huesman was very interested in retaining Vinson, who may be the fastest player in the program.
Not long after he was named Richmond's coach, Huesman said, "We'll give up size for speed all day."
For a week after Rocco left Richmond, Vinson said he considered reopening his recruitment. He ultimately determined that UR remained the right fit for him.
“Now, it’s his time to go,” said Huesman.
