The unpredictable world of college football recruiting has certainly manifested itself with local Chandler Hamilton signal-caller Nicco Marchiol. The four-star quarterback committed to Florida State over Arizona State and others at the end of January, but the Seminoles elected to take an additional QB in the 2022 class, which now has Marchiol revaluating his eventual college destination.
With the 14-month recruiting dead period lifting yesterday, Marchiol and his parents made the short drive to Tempe for an unofficial visit with the Sun Devils. Even though the quarterback was naturally very familiar with the program, Wednesday offered him a first-time opportunity to deeply familiarize himself with everything Arizona State had to offer.
“It was it was a complete blast.” Marchiol said of his ASU visit. “The atmosphere was so good. I was meeting with the whole coaching staff, and there were some other big time (2023) receivers visiting too. It was a great experience, so much fun.
“This was my first time seeing all of it in-person and all that. Aside from all the football stuff, honestly, I was impressed was the pride they take in their athletes and how committed they are to their academics and setting them up for life after football. We had a whole meeting for two hours about life after football. I think what surprised me the most was how much they'd progressed over since I last talked to them.”
Marchiol applauded the fact that ASU offensive coordinator, Zak Hill, respected his commitment to Florida State and didn't pursue him following that decision. Which why the local quarterback is one that did initiate contact with Arizona State when he decided that he wanted to explore his options.
“I told him (Hill) that I was done with my recruitment,” Marchiol remarked, “But, you know, the recruiting world gets crazy, and it's never really over until you put pen to paper. So that's why I really wanted to go out and take these visits because I've never seen see all these places.
“I think the way he (Hill) is recruiting you is the best. When you're on campus with him, and he’s talking, he’s talking about everything…your personal life, as well as the type of offense that he runs. And I think the kind of connection he tries to build with us is so much deeper than a coach-to-a-player relationship. He wants to help me develop into an NFL-caliber player. And, you know that the Arizona State staff has 150-plus years of NFL experience. So if I was gonna be with anyone that was going to help get me to the league, those are the people that I’m going to be with.”
Marchiol stated that even by watching just four ASU games during the 2020 season, he knows that if he did decide to join the ranks in Tempe that Hill’s pro-style scheme would fit his skillset, and he does appreciate the well-roundness of his scheme.
“What I really liked about this offense is that it wasn't pass focused and it wasn't run focused,” Marchiol explained. “It's much more quarterback-oriented, honestly. I like that kind of responsibility that they put in the quarterback’s hands, and that is definitely something I'm looking for. I love having that kind of control in an offense.
“They will under center, they’ll go shotgun…they have 10-20 different types of formations and shifts. Like Coach Hill was telling us, the main thing that they try to do with defense is make them think, make them confused and throw distractions at them, and I think that's amazing.”
Marchiol plans to take an official visit to Michigan State this weekend and West Virginia on the weekend of the 11th. He added that Ole Miss and Nebraska could be in line for summer visits as well, in order to make his decision before he kicks off his senior season with the Huskies in August.
“I plan to take all my officials,” Marchiol commented. “I think I'll have a decision after I go through all these visits and look at everything. I’ve never taken an official visit to Florida State, but since I've been there so many times, I don't know if I'm gonna take an official there.
“Even though I’ve been to ASU, I'm definitely gonna take an official visit there.”
Even though the quarterback is a Colorado native who moved to the valley just a year ago, he said that a potential commitment to Arizona State would truly fall under the proverbial hometown school category. His familiarity with the Valley of Sun and the strong sentiments he has to his new surroundings unquestionably compel him to sport that approach.
“Every single day I’ve been here, I'm getting more and more comfortable and more acclimated to the weather and the people, and it's just felt more like home,” Marchiol said. “When you look at the logistics of it, just staying in Arizona and being close to my parents, being in the town that I spent my high school years in, it would really be a good situation at Arizona State.”
(note: at the time of our interview Marchiol was technically still committed to Florida State)
The question that Marchiol is asked the most these days, is what will it take for him to declare that his no longer committed to Florida State and what the new program of his choice has to demonstrate to win over his services?
“I think the main is that definitely feel felt disrespected and not wanted at Florida State,” Marchiol asserted. “So the biggest thing I'm going to be looking for at these programs is just a place where I'm both wanted, and there's a need for me and a place where I'm going to get on the field early, I want to go to a team where I'm surrounded by other big time players who have the same goals as me and want to win national championships.”
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