Willis continues to mold Marist football with hopes of building a contender
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Leaving the gridiron on a losing note after months of continual effort, dedication and preparation may not be a recipe for enthusiasm and optimism.
After multiplying the previous season’s win total by five in 2025, however, the Marist University football program finds itself on the upswing.
As the program is being molded in the vision of head coach Mike Willis, the steps taken in the 2025 season potentially have the Red Foxes set up for a massive leap heading forward.
Tangible progress being made
In his second season at the helm of Marist’s program, the former Princeton Tiger led the Red Foxes to a 5-7 regular season record with a 4-2 mark on home turf at Tenney Stadium. He had seven players be named to the All Pioneer Football League (PFL) postseason honors with three underclassmen being named either first or second team All-PFL.
Graduate right guard Dominic Perricone and sophomore safety Nate Robinson Jr. were tabbed to the First Team All-PFL while graduate tight end Connor Hulstein, redshirt sophomore linebacker Nate Furrow and freshman safety Chase Hatton were named Second Team All-PFL.
Redshirt junior quarterback Sonny Mannino, redshirt freshman wide receiver Lance Martinez and graduate Tristan Shannon found themselves as Honorable Mentions.
Playing in 10 games this season, Mannino tossed for 1818 yards and 11 touchdowns with just three interceptions. The quarterback also ran for 395 yards and six touchdowns. Hulstein hauled in 42 catches for 599 yards and seven touchdowns while Martinez had 29 catches for 580 yards and four TDs.
This was a massive turnaround from his initial campaign has head coach, where Marist won just one game in 2024. Despite still suffering some excruciating losses on the field and fully putting the blame for those losses on himself, Willis still seemed pleased with what he was starting to see with the program. That starts off the field.
“I thought we did a good job at working to uphold our standard every day. We clearly define our mindset here at Marist football as mindset, energy and toughness,” Willis said in an exclusive interview with the Poughkeepsie Journal. “Our energy was awesome. How we worked, how we spoke and how we carried ourselves.”
On the field, despite finishing with a sub .500 record, Willis clearly saw progress with his team in more than just the record column. It was the first season in Marist history where the school defeated multiple full-scholarship programs. Additionally, three of the seven losses were by a combined nine points. Those being road PFL losses to Butler, Morehead State and Presbyterian.
“We were dramatically improved from the year before in special teams, offense and our defense made a Herculean leap from one of the worst to one of the best in the country,” Willis said, noting that the defense led by second-year coordinator Mike Horan jumped up to No. 31 in total defense this season in the FCS. “Almost 75% percent of our team were redshirt sophomores and younger. I think the future is bright here if we can continue to hold that standard.”
Hatton was a massive catalyst to the defensive revival, recording a team-high 89 tackles, four interceptions and a fumble recovery in his freshman campaign. Robinson Jr. also hauled in four picks to go along with 64 tackles. Furrow tallied a team-high six sacks.
Building the culture inside a program is paramount. Without a detail-oriented and committed approach, there truly is no hope to finding sustained, consistent success. Willis and his staff have spent the past couple of years building that process and identity for Marist football. Evidence is clear on the field so far, but one thing will soon matter more than anything else.
Winning. Willis knows that and understands that it needs to happen soon. Despite the improved progress this season, there’s still things Marist football is going to need to do in order to break through and become a winner.
“While our consistency has really improved, I think there’s another step we can take when it comes to being on the same page as a team,” Willis noted, pointing out how the team struggled to get consistent impact from all three phases at times. “I think a lot of that will come with another great spring ball, another great offseason cycle and another great fall camp.”
Creating a winning culture
Coaches create the culture and are the ones responsible for putting their student-athletes in a position to succeed. Still, though, it ultimately all comes down to the players.
Any collegiate program is a symbiotic relationship. Coaches rely on the players just as much as the other way around. A primary goal for Willis as he continues to morph the program into his vision, he’s continuing to try and bring the right people into the Marist football family.
“We want people who are looking for excellence in every area of their life. Marist is a very demanding university, it’s one of the best young universities in the country. Our football program has a very demanding structure,” Willis said, noting how the program has had its three highest team GPAs in history in his first three semesters as head coach. “You’ve got to love practice, you’ve got to love the weight room. You have to handle study hall the right way and you have to have the toughness to continue to do the work long after your motivation has evaporated.”
Program building has never really changed in terms of mindset and preparation on the field. You have to get the guys you truly believe in and coach them up. The difference in this era of college football is how you have to get those players to your team.
A new world to navigate
The Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) era in collegiate athletics has ushered in an almost lawless state of financial activity when it comes to the sport. While NIL and the cash being thrown around isn’t so rampant at the FCS level, it’s still something that Willis is learning to navigate as he continues to grow as a head coach in this atmosphere.
“You have to demonstrate value and you have to be good and building authentic relationships,” Willis noted when asked about what he’s learned in order to build a program in this age of collegiate athletics. “It’s my job to cultivate an environment where we are demonstrating value in the classroom, on the field, in the community and through our career development program… It’s my job to set up an environment where a vast majority of them feel like Marist is the right place for them for 4-5 years.”
NIL isn’t the only money in college athletics though. Like every other institution in the country, fundraising and community support is a massive piece of the pie that creates sustained success in a program. Understanding that, Willis has been at the forefront of making that a reality in order to improve Marist athletics in all aspects.
Alumni action
The head coach was essential in the creation of the Marist Touchdown Club, the school’s first ever booster club dedicated to supporting and raising funds for Marist football. As he grows the program, he knows that the backing and support of alumni will prove crucial.
“I thought it was extremely important to have a formal alumni organization… dollars that flow in through fundraising allow you to spend more on the player experience and ultimately fund your priorities, which is to recruit and develop better than anybody,” Willis mentioned. “I tell our alumni that every dollar that flows into our program will focus on those two priorities.”
Along with the financial benefits that an alumni association will bring, Willis noted that the relationships gathered through the group will benefit players far after their days playing for Marist. He wants it to be a club that also provides mentorship and career-building advice as much as anything else.
And as for getting student-athletes and others to commit to Marist University, Poughkeepsie and the Hudson Valley as a whole, Willis has a very simple answer.
“It’s not why Marist? It’s why not Marist?”
Results will soon have to follow the process. But like all things, it’s a step-by-step process. With Willis starting to see fruition in his vision, he truly believes Marist football can become a serious contender in the FCS sooner rather than later.
This article originally appeared on Poughkeepsie Journal: Marist football looks to continue improving after fruitful 2025 season
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