#21

Zach Marcheselli

Former linebacker at Tulsa. 2024: 47 tackles, 9.5 tackles for loss, 1 sack.

LB · Tulsa · Sr. · #21

6′2″ · 227 lb · Broken Arrow, OK

CFB Index 43 · #344 of 571 LBsHigh confidenceTulsa 2024 — college career complete

Recruiting

3★

OLB recruit

No. 884 nationally · Signed with TCU

No college snaps yet.

His career numbers, season by season

The story

Former linebacker at Tulsa. 2024: 47 tackles, 9.5 tackles for loss, 1 sack.

Signed as a 3-star recruit to TCU in 2019.
Transferred from TCU to Tulsa in 2024.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Four seasons at Tulsa, 67 tackles — his college career is complete.

His career

He was on the field for 4 seasons. That is rarer than it sounds.

2019

Signed with TCU3-star out of Broken Arrow

202411 games

Entered the portal

Career arc

Recruit

★★★

#884 national

CFB

College

2 teams

2021–2024

NFL

NFL Draft

—

Not drafted

Coaching lineage · 2021–2024

2 coaches

2021–2022

Philip Montgomery

Tulsa

2023–2024

Kevin Wilson

Tulsa

era →

Coaching transition mid-career: Philip Montgomery → Kevin Wilson. Worth noting in scheme + development context.

2024 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2021TCU5-7HC: Gary Patterson · Run-heavy

2022TCU13-2HC: Sonny Dykes · Run-leaning

2023TCU5-7HC: Sonny Dykes · Pass-leaning, fast tempo

2024Tulsa3-9HC: Kevin Wilson · Balanced

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

43Rotational starter #344 of 571?

High confidence6 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: tackles for loss (95th percentile). Concern: passes defended (19th percentile).

Box-score production (6)

Tackles for loss#135 / 2892 · 95th pct

9.5

Tackles#697 / 2892 · 76th pct

Sacks#841 / 2892 · 63rd pct

1.0

Solo tackles#1048 / 2892 · 63rd pct

QB hurries#1536 / 2892 · 23rd pct

Passes defended#1817 / 2892 · 19th pct

Percentiles are versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score production. There are no play-by-play efficiency bars here: CFBD's play-value model credits offensive players only, so no defensive EPA exists to rank.

Splits & context

Splits · Per-game

2024 season · 11 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home6g	4.3	0.9	0.0	0.0
Road5g	4.2	0.8	0.2	0.0

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-76g	3.7	0.8	0.0	0.0
Weeks 8+5g	5.0	0.9	0.2	0.0

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Tre Lamb

Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.

Awards

Player standing · 2024

Rotational

Tackle volume for the position in rotation-piece range.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

43 · #344 of 571 LBs

Three-star recruit. Now #344 at the position.

Career stats

Season	Team
2024	Tulsa	47	20	9.5	1.0	--	--	--
2023	TCU	7	5	0.5	0.0	--	1	--
2022	TCU	8	4	0.0	0.0	--	--	--
2021	TCU	5	4	0.0	0.0	--	--	--
Career		67	33	10.0	1.0	--	1	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 1 · 2024

W 62–28

vs Northwestern State

2 TFL · 2 SOLO · 5 TOT

Dominant 34-point win at home against Northwestern State.

With K. Francis — 299 yds · 4 TD · 0 INT · QBR 88.4 · 17 rush yds (2 car) · L. Avant — 64 rush yds (11 car)

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2024 season · 11 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	TFL	SACK	INT	Note
Wk 1	W 62-28vs Northwestern State	5	2	2.5	0.0	—	2.5 TFL
Wk 2	L 24-28@ Arkansas State	3	0	1.0	0.0	—
Wk 3	L 10-45vs Oklahoma State	6	1	1.0	0.0	—
Wk 4	W 23-20@ Louisiana Tech	3	0	0.5	0.0	—
Wk 5	L 20-52@ North Texas	3	2	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 6	L 7-49vs Army	2	2	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 8	L 10-20@ Temple	6	3	0.5	0.0	—
Wk 9	W 46-45vs UTSA	7	3	1.0	0.0	—	Season-high 7 tackles
Wk 12	L 31-38vs East Carolina	3	1	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 13	L 30-63@ South Florida	6	5	2.0	1.0	—
Wk 14	L 16-63vs Florida Atlantic	3	1	1.0	0.0	—
Total		47	20	9.5	1.0	—

Stats from CFBD · ESPN · fan discourse. Every figure computed from source tables — not invented. Methodology