How Will Alabama's Hiring Of Saban Affect Area Stars Marve, Murdock? Skip directly to the full story. By ANWAR S. RICHARDSON The Tampa Tribune Published: Jan 4, 2007 TBO.com Site Search | Tribune archive from 1990 TAMPA - Alabama landed the coach it wanted. Now Nick Saban must see if he can obtain one of the most coveted high school football players of this year's recruiting class: Plant senior quarterback Robert Marve. The Tide officially named Saban as Mike Shula's coaching replacement Wednesday. He reportedly received an eight-year contract worth $32 million in guaranteed money. However, it will take more than a recognizable name for Marve to honor the verbal commitment he made to Alabama during the summer. "The one thing Coach Shula and his staff did was treat me like their No. 1 draft pick. They saw me as their top guy. I don't know how Coach Saban sees me," Marve said. "Alabama did get the guy they wanted, and they are expecting him to turn around the program. It's really exciting to see him named as coach." Marve turned his attention away from Alabama once Shula was fired and is entertaining other offers. Miami has made a late surge for Marve and the Hurricanes are running even with Alabama. Marve and Plant High coach Robert Weiner visited the Miami campus Wednesday, even though they were not allowed to speak with coaches during the NCAA's current dead period. Marve is attending the Offense-Defense All-American Bowl in Fort Lauderdale today, and though originally slated to participate, decided to rest after a long season. Marve is waiting on a possible offer from Florida State. Weiner said the Seminoles have only nine available scholarships, and coaches are unsure whether they need to sign a quarterback. South Florida also remains a strong contender, but Marve probably won't use one of his five official visits on the Bulls because of his familiarity with the program. Also considered: Hawaii, Purdue and Maryland. Essentially, Saban will have to recruit Marve, who threw for 4,343 yards and 48 TDs, and was named Class 4A Player of the Year."For sure, I'm going to take five visits. I plan to visit Alabama, and now I get a chance to meet their players and make sure I'm a good fit," Marve said. "The biggest thing I want to feel is that I'm a college's No. 1 guy. It's not to say I don't think I need to play and earn my spot, but I want to be at a program where I'm really wanted." Saban's hiring did a lot to soothe the concerns of Middleton defensive back Sherod Murdock, who verbally committed to play for Alabama. Murdock said he is enthusiastic about Saban's commitment to defense and is looking forward to meeting him. "I want to sit down, talk to him, and get to know the man [i've seen] on TV. Seeing him in person will probably be different than talking to him on the phone," said Murdock, who has never spoken with Saban. "I want to get to know him and see if he's a cool coach to be around, and how he interacts with his players." Murdock's top choice is still Alabama, but he has scheduled an official visit to Kansas and is very interested in Pittsburgh and West Virginia. http://www.tbo.com/sports/prepsports/MGB24CENIWE.html