You can’t tell the story of Westfield State football without strong mention of longtime head coach Steve Marino.

 

Marino was the head coach for 24 years at Westfield State, compiling a 119-115-1 record before retiring after the 2013 season.

 

Marino had the third longest tenure among active coaches in New England Division III football at the time of his retirement.

 

Marino was named the Westfield State head coach in the spring of 1990.

 

The Owl mentor roamed the sidelines for 24 of the first 32 years that Westfield State fielded a varsity football team. He coached 235 games highlighted by three consecutive New England Football Conference championship game appearances in 2001, 2002, and 2003.

 

Marino guided the 2001 Westfield squad to its first and only perfect regular season, a 10-0 record. The Owls won the New England Football Conference championship and qualified for the NCAA Tournament.

During the special 2001 season, Marino was selected as the American Football Coaches Association Northeast Region Coach of the Year, the New England Division II/III Coach of the Year, and the Gridiron Club of Greater Boston Division II/III Coach of the Year.

 

In 2015, Marino was awarded the prestigious Carens Award for lifetime contributions to college football in New England at the 2015 New England Football Writers’ Association Annual Awards banquet. The Carens award is  considered the highest award presented by the New England Football Writers. 

 

Marino’s coaching career spans a total of 42 years. The 1967 graduate of Springfield Classical High School coached football at Ludlow High School for 16 years, including an eight-year stint as the head coach from 1979-86. He served as defensive coordinator at Western New England University in 1987 before returning to Ludlow as an assistant in 1988.

 

Marino received his B.A. degree in 1971 and his master’s degree in 1978 from Westfield State. He taught English at Ludlow High School for 29 years then moved into an administrative post as dean of students for six years. He retired from his full-time job in the Ludlow school system in June of 2006.

 

Marino’s wife, Betsy, also is a 1971 graduate of Westfield State College. They reside in Ludlow and have two sons and one daughter: Don, a 1995 graduate of Westfield State; Steve, a 1999 Westfield State graduate, and Katie, a 2000 graduate of Bridgewater State College.