Eastern Washington University Athletics

Linebacker Jason Marsh became EWU’s first-ever MVP in the Big Sky Conference when he won the league’s Defensive Player of the Year honor in 1993. That season he was also a NCAA FCS All-American (then I-AA) when he was selected to the third team by Associated Press. He earned first team All-Big Sky honors that season, second team accolades in 1992 and honorable mention in 1991. He set the EWU career tackles record with 347, a full 116 ahead of the previous record of 231. That record stood for seven seasons and is currently fifth entering 2025. His average of 10.8 tackles per game in his 32-game career is still a school record. His five career forced fumbles were a record for four seasons (now ninth). In addition, Marsh finished his career with four interceptions, 12 passes broken up, three fumble recoveries and 24 total tackles for losses totaling 46 yards. At the time, his single season tackles performances of 138 in 1991, 113 in 1992 and 96 in 1993 all ranked in the top eight in school history. His 138 were a school record for nine years (currently fifth) and his 113 tackles were second at the time (now 20th). Marsh had 22 tackles at Boise State on Sept. 21, 1991, which stood as a school record for two seasons and still ranks fourth in school history. He had a total of 11 performances of 10 tackles or more in his 32-game Eastern career. He earned Big Sky Conference Player of the Week honors after helping EWU to a 38-21 home win over Portland State. He had 12 tackles, one for a loss of five yards, a fumble recovery, an interception and two passes broken up in the non-conference game. Eastern would go on to place second in the Big Sky Conference with a 5-2 record and finish 7-3 overall while just missing out on a postseason playoff berth.

In 1992, the Eagles did advance to the FCS Playoffs (then I-AA) and finished 7-4 overall and 6-1 in the league to share the Big Sky championship with Idaho. Coupled with records of 5-6/4-4 in 1991, Eastern was 19-13 in his three seasons as an Eagle, including a 15-7 league mark. He was a 1989 graduate of Auburn (Wash.) High School and redshirted at Idaho in 1990 before sitting out the 1991 season because of transfer rules. Marsh was selected by the Eastern Athletic Department to the “100 for 100” All-Time Football Team, which was honored on Sept. 27, 2008, to commemorate Eastern’s 100th year of football. He wore a Pittsburgh Steelers hat throughout his career at EWU as a personal tribute to linebacker Jack Lambert.

After his collegiate career concluded, Marsh settled into the Denver, Colo., area and worked for a decade for Coors Brewing Company in supervisory and lead positions for the corporation’s industrial maintenance department. He left that to run the maintenance department at Coorstek Inc., a leading global manufacturer of technical ceramics. Marsh has also volunteered the last eight years as a youth coach for football, flag football, basketball and track and field. He married his wife, Tami, in 2002, and they had three children together – Olivia, Julia and Lucas. Tami, a graduate of CSU-Pueblo who worked in information technology, passed away in 2024 after a four-year battle with metastatic breast cancer. Olivia earned an environmental science degree from Western Washington and Julia graduated from Colorado State in environmental engineering, and both are now working in their respective fields. Lucas is starting high school at Arvada West this fall, and competes in football, basketball and track and field while participating in the school’s gifted and talented program. Jason’s step-daughter, Jordan, graduated from Northern Colorado and is now a planning and events manager for Westin Hotels.