“Yes, sir,” Ole Miss senior cornerback answered coach Houston Nutt with an assured voice and determined tone.Green said only these two words when the coach asked him to take a chance at cornerback for the Rebels, even though the Bastrop High School alumnus had played offense most of his life.”Marshay really saved us. When he got here … our secondary was so thin,” Nutt said. “We didn’t really have a cornerback besides Cassius Vaughn. So we asked Marshay if he would go over to play corner. He had a tremendous attitude, said, ‘Yes, sir,’ and was really unselfish.”Green made the switch in 2008 and has been entrenched in the role ever since. He said the transition was “crazy at first.””I was an All-State running back in high school on offense my whole life, and I came here as a wide receiver,” Green said. “I said, ‘OK, Coach, that’s cool.’ The most important thing was to get reps to get comfortable.”It didn’t take Green long to find his niche in the Rebels’ secondary. He started 12 games at cornerback and registered 32 tackles, a team-high six pass breakups and two interceptions in Nutt’s first season in 2008.Green returned one of his interceptions for a 65-yard touchdown in Ole Miss’ 47-34 win against Texas Tech in the 2009 Cotton Bowl. He was named Defensive MVP of the game.Bastrop coach Brad Bradshaw said reaching the end zone was something Green did quite often in his high-school career.”Marshay is my favorite player I’ve ever coached because he’s the most competitive person I’ve ever coached,” Bradshaw said. “He scored 98 touchdowns in his career, but he scored every way you possibly score. The only thing he didn’t do was return a blocked field goal for a touchdown.”Bradshaw said Green was easily the most popular person on the Bastrop team. Ole Miss senior wide receiver Dexter McCluster said his teammate’s enthusiasm and winning attitude is contagious.”He’s real funny, man. He’s the clown,” McCluster said. “He keeps all of us laughing. Even outside of football, he always wants to challenge somebody no matter what it is.”McCluster said Green brings an air of confidence to the Ole Miss defense, which ranks No. 12 in the nation in scoring defense and No. 23 in total defense.”Coming from wide receiver, a person who’s used to getting the ball all his life, to going on defense and making a big impact, the transition has worked out for him,” McCluster said. “Cornerback is where he’s going to make his run. He brings that swagger to the defense we need.”Green also gets his hands on the ball in his role as punt returner at Ole Miss. He is sixth in school history with 653 punt return yards, and he also has three punt returns for touchdowns.Green finished first among freshmen in the Southeastern Conference in punt return average in 2006 with 11.2 yards per return. He was also first among SEC freshmen in kickoff return average with 25.2 yards per return.Bradshaw said Green, at 5-feet-9-inches and 175 pounds, can make his mark in the NFL as a kick returner and defensive back.”There aren’t many 5-foot-8 and 5-foot-9 receivers in the NFL,” Bradshaw said. “Once he gets in an NFL camp, he’ll be hard for somebody to cut once they get to know him. When you get to know him, you see what size his heart is.”Green, who was voted team captain this season, said he likes different things about playing on each side of the ball.”The hardest part of my career was turning into a cornerback, but it worked out in my favor,” Green said. “I’ll put it this way — I like playing defense better, but I like the ball in my hands also.”Nutt said Green’s personality is also a valuable asset he brings to Ole Miss.”He doesn’t have a bad day,” Nutt said. “He always has a smile on his face and loves to come to practice … I’d take five or six Marshay Greens.”—-Contact Rachel Whittaker at [email protected]