‘This Is Heartbreaking,’ ‘Sending Marshall Faulk Good Vibes’ — CFB World Reacts After Southern HC Reveals Parkinson’s Diagnosis

Southern head coach Marshall Faulk watches on the sidelines during the game against Jackson State at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Jackson, Miss., on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026.Marshall Faulk, the Pro Football Hall of Famer in his first season as Southern University’s head coach, revealed in a podcast interview released Wednesday that he has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. By Thursday evening, after Southern Athletics reporter Toyloy Brown III wrote it up for The Advocate, media voices around football were answering the news with sorrow and support.How Marshall Faulk First Noticed Something Was WrongBrown reported that Faulk is doing well physically and mentally after dealing with the disease for about a year and a half. The first sign was a problem with his hand that showed up on the golf course.“I just thought it was, you know, normal nerves when putting and stuff like that,” Faulk said.Brown shared his story shortly after it published: “Wrote about what he said on his mental and physical well-being.”When the same hand issues appeared away from golf, he raised them at one of the two physicals he gets each year.MORE COLLEGE FOOTBALL:PFN’s CFB HQ“I was like, ‘Wow, is that something?’” Faulk said. “‘Is that normal?’ And the doctor was — he literally was like, ‘You need to go get checked.’”According to Brown’s report, Faulk got the diagnosis early and is not in poor spirits because treatment can manage the disease, a process he likened to coming back from injuries as an NFL player. He has been more active and has slept more since starting treatment, his daily life has stayed normal, and while his hands are still rigid, the condition has not progressed.Faulk, 53, first told his story on “Caring Neurologist,” a podcast hosted by Dr. Sandeep Thakkar that primarily covers Parkinson’s, a progressive central nervous system disorder that affects movement. He walked through how he found out, how he is doing now and whether he has told the people closest to him.SEE THE RANKINGS:PFN’s CFB Impact RankingsFaulk also used the interview to push others toward care. Brown reported that the coach wants to encourage anyone with symptoms to seek help, no matter how much money they have, and that he believes people shouldn’t limit themselves because there are multiple avenues to treatment.Sorrow and Support Arrive for FaulkThe responses came quickly, from a Denver columnist to radio voices and a college football site.At San Diego State, Faulk finished second in the 1992 Heisman Trophy voting. He went on to win a Super Bowl with the St. Louis Rams, retired after the 2005 season as a seven-time Pro Bowler and then became an analyst at NFL Network. CFB radio host Ryan Balick touched on both chapters in one post:“This is heartbreaking. Marshall was so damn good and seemed like a nice guy from his media days. Tough news to read.”Radio producer Sean Fox was the first of the group to post, at 6:09 p.m. ET, and he kept his reaction to a single word: “awful.”Denver Post columnist Troy Renck sent his support: “Damn. Sending Marshall Faulk good vibes.”Reddit CFB, the CFB site, also posted, a little more than an hour after Brown.Faulk came to Southern from Colorado, where he was Deion Sanders’ running backs coach, and the Jaguars introduced the New Orleans native as their coach on Dec. 1, 2025.The Jaguars (3-4, fourth in the SWAC West) next play the Texas Southern Tigers on Saturday at Shell Energy Stadium in Houston.This article originally appeared on Pro Football Network.