John Marinelli stays with Arizona and new coach Fisch
John Marinelli is remaining an Arizona Wildcat.
After a month of uncertainty following the firing of former football head coach Kevin Sumlin, Marinelli is now a part of Jedd Fisch’s staff, as the University of Arizona looks to the future. Fisch, who was the quarterbacks coach for the New England Patriots, was hired as Arizona’s head coach in late December and Marinelli was kept on as an assistant quarterbacks coach shortly thereafter.
It ended what Marinelli, a former offensive coordinator for New Canaan and head coach for Greenwich, described as a “tumultuous time,” accentuated by the fact that he and his wife Anna are expecting their first child, a son, in April.
“This is a cut-throat profession,” Marinelli said. “You can leave your credentials at the door. It’s a relationship business and most guys want to hire people they know. For me, I’ve been involved in football my entire life, but only having two years in college, it was a very scary time getting fired.”
When Marinelli finally met with Fisch, the new coach offered him the chance to stay with the team.
“I’m very thankful to coach Fisch for the opportunity and for the recommendation that coach Sumlin and coach (former offensive coordinator Noel) Mazzone gave me,” Marinelli said. “They said something to get coach Fisch to take a chance on me.”
In Connecticut, Marinelli was a state champion as a player and an assistant coach under his dad, Lou, while with New Canaan. He then became the head coach in Greenwich and in four years his Cardinals were 36-10, highlighted by a 13-0 season in 2018 when they defeated New Canaan 34-0 for the Class LL championship.
He moved to Arizona in 2019, but after winning four of the first five games that season, the Wildcats have been on a 12-game losing slide. They finished 2019 with a 4-8 record and then went 0-5 during a COVID shortened 2020 campaign.
While his New Canaan and Greenwich teams made winning seem commonplace, the college level is a different ball game, Marinelli
said.
“I don’t care if you’re Alabama, Arizona or anybody — it’s hard to win games at the college level. Under coach Sumlin we were close, but when COVID hit, some of our kids went into the transfer portal and ended up playing in the Big 12,” Marinelli said.
That resulted in many younger players getting significant time for the Wildcats.
“Obviously we didn’t perform the way we
thought we would, but our kids battled,” Marinelli said. “They did a nice job in a crazy year.”
Even with the change in leadership, Marinelli will retain his position as an assistant quarterbacks coach alongside passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach Jimmie Dougherty, who was brought aboard by Fisch last week
Unlike last season, Marinelli is now directly under the head coach, a step up which came as a surprise.
“It’s a pretty significant position,” Marinelli said. “I was shocked because normally when you’re on a different staff and you get retained, you’re not the point person for the rest of the staff to the head coach. So for me to have this job, I feel very thankful. Coach Fisch is a great person and I’m really excited for the opportunity.”
Although he was disappointed to see Mazzone leave, Marinelli said he was happy when Don Brown, another “familiar face,” joined Arizona as the defensive coordinator last week. Brown has coached for 43 years, starting at Hartford High School back in 1977, and has spent time in UMass, UConn, Boston College, and Maryland. He was Michigan’s defensive coordinator for the past five years.
“I’m sad because Noel Mazzone, who’s like my second father, is not here anymore, but Donnie Brown is the same thing to me,” Marinelli said. “I’m so excited because it’s a familiar face, someone I’ve gotten close to over the years, and someone I’ve talked a lot of football with. It’s another Northeast guy in Arizona.”
Marinelli said he enjoys living in Tucson and has had time to explore the state with Anna.
He’s also grown close with the players, and said Arizona is set up well for the future, with a strong incoming class joining the past two that he’s been a part of.
“I love the kids here and I really didn’t want to leave,” Marinelli said. “Everything about this university and these kids I really like, and I’m glad that I get to see a lot of them through and see how they progress and develop and see if they get to the NFL, and also to help them out professionally.
“I’ve always had a good relationship with my players at New Canaan and Greenwich, so this is an extension of that. I’ve become close to a lot of these players (in Arizona) and I’m glad I get to continue to be around for them.”