It’s ‘Go-Go’ time for Sacramento State as Marion era starts. The Hornets ‘will be dominant’
After sorting through 120 candidates who expressed some measure of interest in the football job through emails, calls, text messages, the application process and through agents, Sacramento State settled on the man they wanted all along: Brennan Marion.
The offensive guru who injected life into every program he has been involved with, including two record-setting and transformational seasons at UNLV as offensive coordinator, signed a multi-year contract with the Hornets on Friday evening.
Marion has hit the ground running this weekend in Sacramento as he meets with Hornets coaches still under contract and navigates the school’s new era of Name, Image and Likeness — or NIL — and the college football transfer portal that can reboot a team in a hurry.
Marion replaces Andy Thompson, who, after two mixed seasons as the Hornets head coach, surprised staffers, players and administration when he resigned on Dec. 6 to join Troy Taylor’s staff at Stanford.
Taylor as head coach and Thompson as defensive coordinator pulled Sacramento State out of an era of football mediocrity or misery, winning the program’s first Big Sky Conference championship in their first season together in 2019, and then winning it again in 2021 and 2022 before Taylor accepted the Stanford post following a 12-1 season in 2022.
Sacramento State reached the FCS playoffs for the fourth consecutive time in 2023 under Thompson before an injury ravaged season marked by close losses led to a 3-9 campaign.
“Marion is our next head coach,” Sacramento State president Luke Wood texted The Sacramento Bee to confirm a deal had formally been struck. “He is the most brilliant offensive coordinator in the nation. Sacramento State will be dominant next season.”
“I’m truly honored by the heartfelt welcome from President Luke Wood and Director of Athletics Mark Orr to be the program’s next head football coach,” Marion said in a statement posted by Sacramento State. “Sacramento State is fully invested in becoming a nationally known football program, and I’ve always relished the opportunity to build and create. My family and I can’t wait to serve the student-athletes of this program and the Sacramento community. As a University, we’re going to write history and work tirelessly to build something that the community will be proud of for generations to come.”
Added Orr in the statement: “Coach Marion is the perfect fit for our football program, our department, our University, and our community. His demonstrated success in recruiting promising student-athletes and maximizing their talents will help us return our football program to winning conference championships. I’m confident Coach Marion possesses the dynamic ability to cultivate impactful relationships with internal and external constituents surrounding Hornet football. He will lead the student-athletes in our program to reach and surpass their aspirations of achievement both on and off the field.”
‘Crazy amounts of interest’
With Sacramento State on its winter break and players scattered across the country for the holiday season, a news conference to introduce Marion on campus will not happen until after the holidays, Sacramento State sports information director Brian Berger said.
The Sacramento State post drew immediate “crazy amounts of interest,” Orr said last week, including coaches from the FCS and FBS levels and those with assistant coaching roles in the NFL. Former Heisman Trophy winner Robert Griffin III even expressed interest despite having no formal coaching experience, although he does make a living talking about football, either as an analyst or a podcaster.
The first big name to emerge was former NFL first-round draft pick Mike Vick, who met with Orr and Wood about the job while also negotiating with Norfolk State to become head coach. That school hired Vick on Tuesday.
Getting to know Marion
Marion, 37, a native of Greensburg, Pennsylvania, was paramount in elevating the fortunes of a UNLV football program that enjoyed few winning seasons over the decades.
The Runnin’ Rebels went 11-2 this season, the best showing for the school in 50 years. The school started football in 1968 and moved up from Division II to Division I-AA, now called FBS, in 1978.
Marion did not coach in UNLV’s last game, the LA Bowl on Wednesday against Cal, though the team did use his “Go-Go” offense to beat the Bears 24-13 for the school’s first bowl victory in 25 years.
The “Go-Go” offense blends option running plays with a wide-open spread passing attack to stretch defenses.
Marion’s Northern California ties go back to his early college days. He played junior college football at Foothill College in Los Altos Hills and at De Anza College in Cupertino in 2006 before playing on scholarship at Tulsa in Oklahoma, where he set NCAA receiving records in 2007.
Marion’s previous head-coaching experience was at the high school level, in Vallejo in 2013 and in 2014 in Pennsylvania.
His college coaching stops include: quality control assistant at Arizona State in 2015, running backs coach at Oklahoma Baptist in 2016, offensive coordinator at FCS-level Howard in 2017 and 2018, offensive coordinator at William & Mary in 2019, receivers coach at Hawaii in 2020, receivers coach at the University of Pittsburgh in 2021, passing-game coordinator at Texas in 2022 and the last two seasons at UNLV.
What’s next at Sac State
Wood, Sacramento State’s president, told The Bee that “more exciting news and things are coming.”
Sacramento State in September announced plans to construct a new 25,000-seat stadium by 2028 to replace 55-year-old Hornet Stadium. A new stadium will bolster the school’s chances of moving into a higher-level FBS conference, where TV revenue boosts teams and helps with NIL efforts to compensate players, the new trend in college football.
Sacramento State has a framework of a $54 million NIL package to be spread over 10 years, should the football program become a member of the revamped Pac-12 or the Mountain West.
Sacramento State suffered through a lot of down seasons, producing one playoff team from the program’s start in 1954 through the 2018 season before the run of Big Sky crowns.
This story was originally published December 21, 2024 at 9:15 AM.