Marshall attended Rubidoux High School in Riverside, California, where he was an NCSAA All-American, Parade All-America selection, and Parade's Best Defender in his senior year, and a Parade All-American his junior year. Coming out of high school he was rated as the top college soccer recruit in the country by Soccer America. In addition to his soccer exploits, Chad was also an avid equestrian. He played club soccer for the prestigious club soccer team Irvine Strikers coached by the legendary club coach Don Ebert. He attended the IMG Soccer Academy in fall 2000 through spring 2001. Chad attended Stanford University for two years a brief stint at Harding University. After two seasons with the Cardinal, he decided to turn pro.
Professional
Marshall was drafted second overall in the 2004 MLS SuperDraft by Columbus Crew. He had an exemplary first year, anchoring the Crew defense along with Robin Fraser, who won the MLS Defender of the Year award that season, and helped the team to an eighteen-game unbeaten streak and the MLS Supporters' Shield. He finished the season with twenty-seven starts, and was a close second to Clint Dempsey in the voting for the MLS Rookie of the Year Award. He only played in twelve matches in 2007 due to ongoing concussion issues that threatened to end his career. Marshall's strongest campaign with the Crew came in 2008. He led the defense on the squad that won both the Supporters' Shield and the MLS Cup 2008, a game in which Marshall scored the game-winning goal. After the season, he was voted to the MLS Best XI and was also awarded the MLS Defender of the Year award, beating competition from Bakary Soumare and Jimmy Conrad. Marshall's contract ran out after the 2008 campaign. After a brief trial for part of December with German 2. Fußball-Bundesliga side Mainz 05 he re-signed with Columbus on December 26, 2008. On March 17, 2011, Marshall was named captain of Columbus Crew for the 2011 season to fill the void left by departing captain Frankie Hejduk. In December 2011, Columbus signed Marshall to a long-term contract extension through the 2015 MLS season. On December 12, 2013, Marshall was traded to Seattle Sounders FC in exchange for allocation money and a third-round 2015 MLS SuperDraft pick. He scored his first goal as a Sounder, a game-winning header in the 84th minute, against the Philadelphia Union on May 3. He was named MLS Defender of the Year for the third time as the Sounders won the Supporters Shield. On May 22, 2019, Marshall announced his retirement from professional soccer.
