Marshall Faulk didn’t walk into an easy situation at Southern, with them coming off a 2-10 season. The expectations from a first-time head coach stepping into a college game was less. But Faulk knew the sceptics, and his message was simple: “winners win.” And well, it seems like he wasted no time turning around the future of the program. The first place of attack for talent for him was James Franklin’s Virginia Tech Hokies.

“Marshall Faulk and Southern football landed 3-star Isaiah Pina (@IsaiahPina22443),” Southern reporter for The Advocate, Toyloy Brown III, reported.

Faulk wasted no time in Year One in the HBCU program, flipping 6-foot-6, 225-pound tight end Isaiah Pina, a three-star ranked 51st in ESPN’s 2026 tight end board. The big target had previously committed to the Virginia Tech Hokies in October 2025. 

Other than Franklin’s Hokies, he held offers from The Citadel, Southern Miss, UNLV, and Sacramento State. But Pina decided Southern and posted on X, “New direction. Same hunger. I’m officially flipping my commitment to Southern University. #AGTG #Committed #HBCU.” But the question is, why and what magic pill did Faulk give to him? 

One piece of the puzzle is Ken Merchant. The Jaguars’ new offensive coordinator ran Sacramento State’s offense in 2025. Before joining Faulk, he was the OC at Sacramento State, a program that was among the first to identify and offer Pina. So when Merchant moved, he brought that trust with him.

Plus, Faulk’s track record does the heavy lifting. He is a three-time First-Team All-American, two-time unanimous All-American, three-time Heisman finalist, and 1992 WAC Offensive Player of the Year, plus he made history as the first freshman to lead the nation in rushing and scoring. That résumé alone is enough to make Pina believe that he will be in better hands in the Jaguars program. 

Faulk has instilled a next-level mindset at Southern. While most programs fear the portal churn, he’s building with the assumption that success brings poachers, and he’s perfectly fine with that trade-off.

This, however, is a big miss for Franklin’s program. Pina played at South Lake High School in Groveland, Florida, leading the team to an 11-2 finish. During his senior year, he recorded 32 receptions for 568 yards and 11 touchdowns. He also excels on the basketball court. In 15 games this season, Pina is averaging 19 points, 10.7 rebounds, 1.3 steals, and 1.5 blocks per game. As a junior, he averaged 23.6 points, 10.4 rebounds, two steals, and two blocks.

Marshall Faulk and his recruiting gravity

When everyone questioned Faulk and his abilities, he had said, “You know, and I know this is my first head coaching job. You can’t give answers to anything like that. You know, it’s like anything else, just wait and see. Time will tell.” And well, time certainly did because his name is drawing attention from high school recruits and transfer portal players.

Faulk tapped into the talent-rich Greater New Orleans pipeline and cashed in big time by getting three highly touted 2026 prospects: St. Augustine quarterback Vashaun Coulon, Carver safety Rayheinz Henry, and John F. Kennedy cornerback Devin Duplessis. He even wet his feet in the portal, landing former Nebraska safety-turned-linebacker Roger Gradney. A four-star signee in 2024, the 6-foot, 225-pound Louisiana native saw action in two games for the Cornhuskers in 2025.

Another portal win came in for Faulk and Co., Bryson Jennings, the 6-foot-4, 245-pound edge rusher who had tested himself at North Carolina and Liberty. Faulk reloaded the Jaguars’ run game with familiar SEC juice, first welcoming back Trey Holly from the LSU Tigers and now adding former Texas A&M running back Ronnie Crosby III to the mix.

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That’s how Faulk has power programs watching closely before his first season even got underway.