By Paul Letlow, ULMWarhawks.com Online Columnist
NEW ORLEANS – ULM's electric senior
Marcus Green gives new meaning to the term "happy returns."
You've seen him in action on the field legging out long kickoffs or catches for touchdowns.
But know this about Green. He's a loyal soldier to the Warhawks, who finishes what he starts across the board.
The Pontotoc, Mississippi, product already reached one milestone in the spring when he collected his college diploma. As he neared that achievement, Green started to hear come hither whispers from other college programs. Nothing direct, but feelers from players on other teams letting him know that he'd be welcomed as a graduate transfer if he was interested in moving on from Monroe.
He wasn't.
"I had three or four major schools trying to get in contact with me to make that move," Green told ULMWarhawks.com at Sun Belt Conference Media days. "But ULM has always been like home to me. I figured, why not finish up here where I started?
"ULM was always loyal to me," Green continued. "They were the only school to give me a chance to play Division I football. That would be a slap in the face if I just walked off from the only school that gave me my chance to play. I wanted to finish up strong here."
Green made his intentions clear as early as his exit interviews with head coach
Matt Viator shortly after the 2017 season ended. He was in it for the long haul.
"He was putting in my ear, 'I'm sure you'll hear this or that,'" Green said. "I just went ahead and cut him off and said, 'I'm not going anywhere. I'm staying here.'"
Viator was thrilled to hear those definitive words.
"I thought it was huge for us," Viator said. "It feels good that the kids feel we're going in the right direction."
Green delivered big plays in bunches as a junior with a school record 2,008 all-purpose yards and NCAA-best four kickoff returns for touchdowns. He tied for the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision lead with six scoring plays covering 70 or more yards and led ULM in receptions (55), receiving yards (847) and 100-yard receiving games (four).
"I told Marcus early on when we were talking about it," Viator said. "The only thing I can guarantee you that they can't guarantee you anywhere else is, if you're healthy, you're going to get the football. It's going to be a priority."
Viator noted that Lenzy Pipkins, a former ULM player who left as a graduate transfer for Oklahoma State, actually advised Green to stay.
"We actually got an assist out from what I understand from Lenzy Pipkins," Viator said. "He left, and he basically told Marcus, 'You need to stay.' That helped."
As Green prepares for his final collegiate campaign, he thinks back to a similar arc he followed as a three-year starter for Coach Brian Sutton at North Pontotoc High School.
"We were really known for baseball," Green said. "Football was popular, but they weren't known for winning a lot of games. When Coach Brian Sutton came in my freshman year, I wasn't playing football. He got me to come back to play football and after that, we went to the playoffs every year from my freshman year to when I graduated.
"It feels just like the route I took in high school," Green said. "Coming to a smaller school and trying to put them on the rise and make sure the guys after you have it just as good as you."
Green wants to have that same kind of impact at ULM, which is coming off back-to-back four-win seasons but enters this year with heightened expectations. Green's playmaking potential has a lot to do with that perception.
He's back to deliver on that promise.
"I feel like we can do special things this year once we get everybody to buy in," Green said. "If everybody buys in, we can have a great season this year. Nobody has any doubt in their mind we can get it done this year."
