HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — He came, he saw, he liked.

Those were the sentiments of Marshall Thundering Herd second-year head coach Mark Snyder after viewing his team’s first practice of the season.

“I like a lot of what I saw,” Snyder said. “We have some guys that can run and I think Emanuel Spann looks like a different person. He looked fast out there and that’s good to see.

“I thought Ahmad (Bradshaw) looked good, Bernard (Morris) ran the ball well, Josh Johnson looked good out there and so did Brandon Souder, and I thought Curtis Keyes was very good today.”

Veterans and Snyder’s first recruiting class of 25 freshman greeted the Herd coaching staff. One of the new players was Johnson, a sophomore transfer from Georgia Military Academy, who is expected to make an impact at middle linebacker.

A former Georgia high school standout and Georgia Bulldog, Johnson was happy to be with the Herd.

“I just want to do whatever I can to help the team,” Johnson said. “It was great to be back out on the field today with Division I-A football players. I think we have a great group on defense and I am going to work hard to learn from those guys and be ready to help the team.”

Also among the freshmen were former Ironton running back Darius Lewis and walk-ons Brandon Walker, a linebacker, and Patrick Kouns, a defensive lineman.

Marshall will conduct three weeks of workouts before school begins on Aug. 21. Media day is Friday and fans will be permitted on the field at 6 p.m. for pictures and autographs with the players.

The Thundering Herd opens the season Sept. 2 at rival West Virginia.