MANSFIELD — His road to a Division I football scholarship was anything but traditional, but Marshall Levins wouldn’t change a thing.
A 2015 Mansfield Senior graduate, Levins signed a national letter of intent Wednesday with the University of Nevada in the Mountain West Conference. In becoming a cornerstone of first-year Nevada coach Jay Norvell’s 20-man class, Levins capped a football odyssey that has taken him from north central Ohio to southern California and, finally, Reno, Nevada.
“I couldn’t be happier for Marshall and his family,” Mansfield Senior coach Chioke Bradley said. “For him to travel the path he did, it speaks volumes of his work ethic and his persistence.”
A 6-foot-6, 300-pound tackle, Levins didn’t qualify academically coming out of Senior High. At Bradley’s urging, he enrolled at Fullerton Community College in Fullerton, California — along with high school teammate Asante Wilder — and helped the Hornets win a national championship last fall.
“There were college programs interested in me coming out of high school, but I didn’t have the grades for Division I so I decided to go to junior college,” Levins said Wednesday afternoon from Fullerton, where he will graduate with an associate degree before heading to Nevada in the summer. “If I would have known in high school what I know now, I would have done things differently.
“But I’m thankful everything happened the way it did. I’ve grown up and matured during my time at Fullerton.”
Levins had offers from Toledo, Utah State and Texas State among others. He committed to Texas State in January before taking his final official visit to Nevada late last month. After the visit, he de-committed from Texas State to join a Wolf Pack class that includes quarterback David Cornwell, a transfer from Alabama.
“It’s a program that is on the rise,” said Levins, who will be a junior and will have three years to exhaust his final two seasons of eligibility. “We want to come in and change things right away.”
Nevada finished 5-7 overall last year, 3-5 in the Mountain West. Seven of the conference’s 12 teams qualified for a bowl game.
Norvell was hired to replace Brian Polian, who was 23-27 in four seasons. Norvell, whose coaching résumé includes stints with the NFL’s Indianapolis Colts and Oakland Raiders, likes what he sees in Levins.
“I tease (former Nevada great and NFL lineman) Jeff Nady because we’re trying to find tackles that are as big as our graduate assistants,” Norvell said Wednesday. “Jeff is a big, tall 6-6 guy and that’s the way Marshall Levins is.
“The big thing was we wanted to bring some maturity to that group.”
Levins, who plans to pursue a degree in kinesiology in hopes of becoming a physical therapist, can’t wait to get started.
“Coming out of junior college, I think I bring some toughness to the table. It’s a dog-eat-dog world and you either eat or you starve,” Levins said. “I’m humble and I’m grateful for this opportunity.”
