In case you did not know, Marist football is in a new era.
For 30 years, the program has had notable consistency from year to year. A program defined by connectivity, professional standards and the one-and-only Jim Parady seemed like it would never change—until Parady retired last November.
Out with the old staff and in with the new. Some players have left, but surprisingly, many have stayed. With Parady riding off into the sunset, Mike Willis now takes the helm.
Much has transpired in the eight months since the change in leadership, so the time has come to look at what is in store for this season.
Building a Culture From the Ground Up
While he has never had to rebuild a program from scratch, Willis understands the inherited responsibilities of a new head coach, especially one who is not an internal hire.
“The biggest challenge for any football program is renewing your commitment to that program’s culture and standards every day,” said Willis.
Willis quickly hired his staff in January, most notably offensive coordinator and quarterback specialist Bob Davies (former Carleton OC) and defensive coordinator Mike Horan (former defensive line coach at Harvard). Over the next several months, the staff settled into the football offices within the McCann center walls.
Willis is coming off of a three-year stint as Princeton’s offensive coordinator; this is now his first rodeo coaching an entire team. The most crucial step in leading a program is getting the team to buy into a new culture. It is not, however, Willis’s first time managing players or working within a culture he has bought into, so his past experiences guide his present initiatives.
Willis sets clear expectations for his team. There is no long list and winding rule sheet, nor does he set seemingly insurmountable expectations. He simply expects maximum effort from his players in order to accomplish the greater goal: winning.
Another key part of Willis’s coaching philosophy is student-athlete enhancement, While in the hiring process, Willis commented on Marist Athletics’ positive momentum toward enhancing the student-athlete experience. Since his hiring, Marist has exponentially increased its strength and conditioning staff (including the hiring of Marist football graduate Dominic Dutton as head football athletic trainer) and brought on nutritionist Sydney Nitzkorski.
“Our commitment to nutrition and sports-specific nutrition has already paid dividends for the changing bodies of our players,” said Willis.
While Willis praised the entire team’s effort in summer practices, he highlighted sixth-year veteran wide receiver Mohamed Diawara as a standout during camp. Diawara reportedly gained around 20 pounds of lean muscle, which Willis admitted is not “normal” for someone his age.
Coincidentally, Diawara–who only appeared in seven games for the Red Foxes and previously played at Bates College–has been named one of six Marist captains. In their final game against Bucknell in 2023, Diawara obliterated his previous season highs by hauling in nine receptions for 110 yards and a touchdown.
Diawara is a good demonstration of Willis’s ability to get veterans to buy into his philosophy. Seniors Jackson Willette (tight end, two-time captain), Nick Jackson (nose tackle, Second Team All-PFL), Jake Anapol (offensive lineman) and fifth-year defensive end Miles Kauderer round out the list of captains returning to the Red Foxes.
“We promise them our emotion, we really care about it, our energy,” said Willis. “We’ll give them everything that we got and our expertise. We’ll work hard to be experts in everything we ask them to do to the best of our ability. What we ask in return is their trust; that what we’re asking of them in a particular moment has a purpose.”
Deciphering the Red Fox Offense
A change in coaching means a change in the depth chart, with none quite as noticeable as the shift in who will be starting under center.
Senior Brock Bagozzi departed to the Missouri State Bears after finishing his last season with a knee injury. While the two-year starter’s season varied in success rate, he provided athletic ability from the pocket and impressive deep-ball passing to his lead target, receiver Matt Stianche. With two years of eligibility, Stianche leaves the Marist program after tallying the second-most receiving yards in the PFL and All-Second Team honors in his final season.
Despite the talent loss, Parady’s offense had been trending downward. The last five years have seen Marist continue a steady decline in yards per game (per Phil Steele’s FCS guide), with Marist ranking last in total offensive touchdowns and ninth in total offense among PFL opponents in 2023.
With both players gone, Willis declined to reveal who would start under center for the Red Foxes in the season opener against Georgetown. There seem to be two viable options on who could lead the offense: the two quarterbacks on the roster with collegiate playing experience.
The first option is redshirt junior Logan Brabham, who replaced Bagozzi after his injury late last season. The lefty slinger threw for 773 yards and five touchdowns, but his four interceptions over a four-game stretch tarnished his takeover of the starting role.
The other option is a transfer from Monmouth University, redshirt sophomore Enzo Arjona. The New Jersey native appeared in seven games over the past two years for the Hawks, starting the final three games in his rookie season. While Brabham has more games played, the two quarterbacks have similar stats on paper. It is currently a toss-up on which one will be given the reins first.
“Bob [Davies] is a master developer of quarterbacks,” said Willis. “He’s done an awesome job of teaching these guys the lens through which we want to view football… We can help them be more and more explosive and then build the offense with enough flexibility to adapt to the strengths of whoever is going to go into the game.”
The skill positions also have plenty of room for players to make their mark. Along with Stianche leaving, Amin Woods graduates from Marist after serving as the lead running back for the last two seasons. Fortunately for Marist, fifth-year running back Tristan Shannon broke out as a Swiss Army knife player for the Red Foxes last season, receiving All-PFL honorable mentions for his return specialty and all-purpose play.
“He has the hands and skill set to play all over the formation, both as a single running back with multiple running backs on the field and to ultimately embody a desire to play somewhat positionless football,” said Willis. “He’s someone who is ready to rise to the occasion that is presented to him every time he’s on the field.”
Willis noted that Shannon is a follower of the coaching staff’s internal motto: “The more you can do, the better off you are.” Willis compared Shannon’s versatility to Diawara, who’s improved physique makes him playable in multiple scenarios for the Red Foxes.
“He [Diawara] has the ability to move all over the formation and to do jobs that are typically associated with both smaller people in the slot because he is tough, twitchy and coordinated,” said Willis. “He can win versus man-to-man coverage and match his own coverage, and he is a physical human being.”
The skill players are complimented by a veteran offensive line bolstered by captain Anapol, who started all 11 games last season at center after missing 2022 with an injury. Redshirt junior guard Dominic Perricone earned All-PFL honors last season playing in all 11 games, and got the chance to work with Willis, a former offensive lineman with Ivy League champion Princeton.
A New Captain Bolsters the Defensive Line
While captains Jackson and Kauderer will play crucial roles for the defensive line, a newcomer captain is providing intrigue: Dartmouth graduate transfer Gannon McCorkle.
McCorkle, a defensive end, only appeared in seven games for Dartmouth in his career, but his 6-foot-3, 270-pound frame allows him to generate speed off his first step and challenge multiple tacklers. His veteran presence and Ivy League-level talent render him a prime candidate to become a factor on the defensive line, which already carries two All-PFL honorees (with Kauderer also receiving an honorable mention in 2022).
Package all of that potential talent with Marist’s pair of Steele Publications Preseason All-PFL honorees–linebackers Angelo Vokolos and Tyler Ruscher–and Marist has plenty of potential defensive award recipients on paper.
Marist had a rough go of it on defense last season, ranking ninth in total defense and tenth in scoring defense among PFL opponents. A new defensive staff led by Horan looks to right the ship.
The Georgetown Test
After a summer spent solidifying a new team culture and installing new schemes, Marist’s next task is conquering their home opener against a familiar foe in Georgetown.
A look at the score discrepancies from the last four meetings between these two teams dating back to 2018 (264-36 in favor of Georgetown) reveals the Hoyas’ recent dominance over Marist, but to reiterate one more time: this Marist team is different from its predecessors.
Approaching this week, Willis’s philosophy stays firm.
“I’ve talked since the day I arrived here that the Georgetown game is the biggest game we’ve ever played, but that’s because it’s the game on our schedule,” said Willis. “The moment it’s over, after a short amount of time to react to the results of any particular game, we’ll snap our attention [to the] next thing.”
This opening game is more than just a win or loss on paper for Marist; it will likely serve as a bellwether of their ability to compete this season. While the standard in Willis’ camp has been to prepare champions, success in year one might be defined differently in a developing program that has not won a PFL title since 2013.
With Willis and company eager to see how their players will perform after Marist’s most uncertain offseason in decades, there’s only one thing left for the team to do: usher in a new era of Marist football tomorrow at noon in Tenney Stadium.
Edited by Luke Sassa
Photo and Graphic Credit: Tom Tricoli
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