There are plenty of college football players who make the transition to coach. It’s often an odyssey with many different stops. Sometimes, the former college player takes on a career in professional football before starting a career in coaching.
Former St. Paul standout Logan Marchi had an odyssey of sorts as a player. He began his career at Temple University, then moved on to Eastern Tennessee State University before finishing up at Sacred Heart University. Marchi is back at the college level, and he is currently an offensive assistant at ETSU. Marchi and seventh-seeded ETSU are preparing for a quarterfinal-round game against second-seeded North Dakota State in the FCS (formerly Division I-AA) playoffs. That game is Saturday at North Dakota State. To get there, the Buccaneers outlasted Kennesaw State, 32-31, in a second-round game on Dec. 4 at home in Johnson City, Tenn.
After Marchi got done playing in college, he took on a very new challenge called Fan Controlled Football, an arena league that played games in an hour with no kicks of any kind. During his time with the Zappers of FCF, Marchi shared quarterback duties with Johnny Manziel – yeah, that Johnny Manziel – and threw a touchdown pass to Josh Gordon – yup, that Josh Gordon.
The FCF played games in the beginning of 2021, and the early schedule allowed Marchi a chance to get his coaching career going. Jason Manson, now the Director of Player Development at the University of Iowa, gave Marchi his first coaching job while both were at St. Thomas More, a prep school in Oakdale, Conn. Manson, a former standout quarterback at Bloomfield who went on to play at Iowa, was the head coach at St. Thomas More.
St. Thomas More competed in a shortened spring season in 2021. Manson got a great opportunity to go back to his Alma mater and couldn’t pass it up, and Marchi was thrilled for him.
“Extremely happy for this man right here @CoachManson16!! Marchi wrote on Twitter on May 25. “He gave me my first coaching opportunity, he taught me the importance of relationships with the players, the families and the staff around me. Happy for you and the fam coach! Thank you!!”
On June 17, Marchi tweeted about his own opportunity.
“I’d like to thank @STMCT_Football for giving me my first coaching opportunity,” Marchi wrote. “That being said I have accepted a coaching position with my Alma mater, @ETSUFootball. Excited to be a part of an FCS Top 25 program and their elite coaching staff.”
After playing the game for most of his life, Marchi is getting a chance to coach others. ETSU plays North Dakota State on Saturday at noon on ESPN.
Photo credit: ETSU athletics.
