Marvelous Marv: Marvin Shinn Soon To Be Alabama Fan Favorite

Larry Burton (Panama City Beach, Fla.) At heart, Nick Saban is an old country boy who knows that you keep going back to a great fishing spot until you've got all the big ones. The Mobile area is one of those good fishing spots that have provided much to the "keepers" that Saban and company have pulled in for the Crimson Tide.

The latest big catch is "Marvelous Marv", or Marvin Shinn of Vigor High School.  He is the state's number one recruit, a receiver extraordinaire, and a cleat wearing highlight reel.

Sometimes, you see a player recruited and beside his name is athlete instead of a position. Though Shinn is being recruited as a receiver, he is in fact, one of those athletes. He could play any position and do a fabulous job.

His high school coach, Kerry Stevenson says of him, "He could have been our quarterback and he would have been a great quarterback. He showed more talent at quarterback at his age than JaMarcus Russell" (Who was Saban's QB at LSU and was later a number one NFL draft pick).

"But we wanted only one or two players to try and stop him rather than have all eleven keying on him, so we moved him to receiver and it's worked out well," Stevenson said in total understatement.

Though now at 6'4" and almost 200 pounds, there was a time when he was known as "Little Duke", a kid who played with and beat the bigger kids regularly. Now, he plays as a man among boys.

And of course, offers from across the country came pouring in, but as soon as he got the offer from Nick Saban during his junior season, he almost instantly said "yes."

Though his coach said he became a little nervous after watching the BCS National Championship and how few times they threw, he was put back at ease after talking to Saban about it. Saban explained that McElroy had bad ribs and simply couldn't pull the trigger, thus changing the game plan to a smash-mouth game.

"But he does know A.J. McCarron personally," the coach said. "They get along well, and Marvin knows A.J. can throw the ball. You can tell Marvin has a lot of respect for A.J. as a player."

His coach also said that Marv also realizes that McElroy is the last QB inherited from the Shula program and knows what the quarterback of the future, and fellow Bay Area player A.J. McCarron can and will do once he takes over.

He is also excited that Alabama has Phillip Sims ready to take over at some point and says that Saban has assured him he will see the passing game come on even more in this coming year, Marv's last in high school.

And his last year will be something to see. In the spring game, he touched the ball eight times and scored five TD's. With a percentage like that, you can see how he's earned the name "Marvelous Marv".

His goal this year? "Three touchdowns a game." said Shinn. And that's a goal that seems certainly achievable.

With Alabama poised to have the next two quarterbacks geared for a passing game, and the Tide stocking itself with some of the best receivers in the nation, some may be shocked to see the Tide move more to the kind of balance that Saban has always wanted.

Though the Tide also has some of the most talented running backs in the country, the new offensive game cry could soon be, "Air it Bama!", and two Mobile products may be the biggest cause of that cheer. "McAir it Out to Marvelous Marv" may be another, as it will be a fun to watch the future take shape in Tuscaloosa.