By Larry Hicks | Special to The OBSERVER

The history-making hire of Brennan Marion as Sacramento State’s first Black head football coach was greeted with a mix of applause, pride and humility by several African American football coaches at area high schools.

But skin color and race are secondary to both Marion and the local coaches to his skills, qualifications, leadership and track record of success, they all agree.

“He’s a really good football coach,” says T.J. Ewing, of Monterey Trail High, who as the school’s founding head coach 21 years ago is considered the “godfather” among Black head coaches by at least one local coaching counterpart. “He’s a really, really good football coach schematically. He’s as sound as anybody in the country. He’s got new stuff that people haven’t really sunk their teeth into yet and I think it’ll be really innovative [and] creative. … It’s gonna be awesome. I’m excited for it.”

Ewing is referring to the “Go-Go” offense, a high-powered attack created and refined by Marion some years ago. Last season it helped UNLV to 11 victories, including a bowl win over Cal. Marion was UNLV’s offensive coordinator, among the many positions he has held in a nomadic career that has taken him from the East Coast to the West Coast and stops in between.

Marion is in a small circle of Black coaches who lead Football Bowl Subdivision programs, even though most players at the FBS level, college football’s highest, are African American.

Race? Marion doesn’t dwell on it.

“[Notre Dame Coach] Marcus Freeman proved Black coaches can have success. But you have to win,” Marion says. “I don’t think anybody should be given anything. Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream is my dream – that color shouldn’t matter. Performance should.”

In Marion’s case, the proof is on the field. Following the 2023 season, Marion, 37, earned the Mountain West Wire coordinator of the year honor and was a nominee for the prestigious Broyles Award in his first season at UNLV. The Rebels that season scored 40-plus points a school-record six times and had 24 points in a school-record 10 straight games. The Rebels finished sixth in the FBS in third-down conversions (49.3%), tied for eighth in red-zone offense (93.1%) and 22nd in scoring (34.4 ppg).

Coaching chops, high energy and an ability to relate to young players. That’s what local Black coaches see in Marion.

“In my opinion, the color of a coach’s skin does not matter,” says Larry Morla, head coach at Christian Brothers High. “If you are coaching for the right reason is what matters – developing young men so that they are prepared for life after football.

“I believe a coach in general should offer inspiration to any of his players if he is doing it right,” Morla, of Afro-Latin ancestry, continues. “It doesn’t matter what skin color my players are, I will do my best to mentor them if they are coachable and are willing to trust me.”

Morla hadn’t met Marion as of publication time, but heard good things about him from former Christian Brothers player Mason Vicari, who went on to play at UNLV and “speaks highly of him.”

“I think he has a lot to prove being a first-time head coach, but with the right support from coaches, admin and alumni he should be successful,” Morla says.

Marion and his coaching staff are canvassing the region, the state, and the nation looking for high-level players to restore Sac State to prominence in the Big Sky Conference after a down year.

And if any coach has a lick of sense, he’s going to visit Grant High, home of the Pacers who have won two state championships in the past three years.

“Yeah, he came out with some of the staff and we’ve definitely talked to them and they’ve already offered a couple of our athletes [scholarships]. So it’s kind of a good step in the right direction,” says Grant coach Carl Reed, who does not ignore Marion’s race.

“It’s always significant to be the first, and I mean the first African American coach at Sac State. That’s a big milestone. It’s just a progression,” Reed says. “Many different coaches are qualified and have qualifications and a lot of time you just gotta get the chance to be in that position. So I think it’s big in the standpoint of bringing somebody in who’s moving forward with the program and just bringing a new look.”

Reed continues: “I think there’s some significance coming into the inner-city schools. You know seeing somebody who looks like you that’s always there, but everything’s relationship-based and it’s all about your approach.”

Marion says he can recruit anywhere – the suburbs, rural areas and the inner city, which is the root of his upbringing.

He grew up in Pittsburgh in a largely Black neighborhood called Homewood. Though he sported a cowboy hat at his introductory press conference in December – a fashion sense he developed during his time as an assistant at Texas – he has many markings that speak to his youth, including tattoos on his hand and neck.

“A lot of people tell me I’m like the Allen Iverson of coaching from the standpoint that I let people be themselves,” he says. “I’m from Section 8 and I look like them. I came up like them. So I represent hope for a lot of people and I don’t take that lightly, and I think when I meet coaches, I think I kinda illuminate their spirit.

“I’m somebody who can speak the language of the streets. I’ve been homeless. I lived on the street. I know what it’s like. You know I always say I’m from the same hood in a different state when I meet a lot of these coaches. I’m from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and you know everywhere you go around the United States there’s a rough neighborhood.”

Marion also is quick to give credit to coaching mentors, both Black and white, who helped him grow and advance in his career.. They include Mike London, now at William and Mary; Gus Malzahn, former Auburn head coach, now offensive coordinator at Florida State; Mike Norvell, Florida State head coach; and Steve Sarkisian, head coach at Texas.

He also speaks about life-long relationships with players of all backgrounds. It doesn’t end after their playing days are done, he said.

Coach Marlon Blanton of Jesuit High can relate. He hosted Marion during a visit to Jesuit.

“From where I grew up [San Mateo], I’m not supposed to be here,” says Blanton, Jesuit’s coach for seven years. “He [Marion] is very good at what he does. He’s very good at networking; very knowledgeable. A very good first impression, for sure. I think he’s going to do a wonderful job. He seems to have been successful wherever he’s gone and I don’t foresee that changing. I’m excited for him. I’m excited for Sacramento.

“Anytime someone like him, myself, TJ, Larry … anytime we get an opportunity in leadership, we’re moving the needle. And I am all-in in supporting people of color.”

Reginald “Reggie” Harris of Inderkum High – the aforementioned coach who dubbed Ewing the “godfather” – says he didn’t look at Marion’s hiring as historic. “I looked at it as, they were bringing in a highly qualified young man, regardless of color,” he says. “Sac State has brought in a proven candidate.”

But he does see Marion’s ascension as achieving greater diversity at Sac State and believes it will attract more talented players.

“He’s bringing in four- and five-star guys and I think that’s great for Sacramento,” Harris says. “It uplifts the entire campus. He’s going to bring success. He’s been a winner everywhere he’s been.”

Harris says race has little to do with the success of any Black coach. Hard work is the key ingredient and with it, hopefully, opportunity.

“As Sam Cooke said, ‘Change gon’ come,” he says. “And Martin Luther King’s dream? We’re in that dream.”