As Marist continues its football rebuild under promising young coach Mike Willis, the administration has helped secure a new home date for the Red Foxes in the coming 2025 season, FootballScoop has learned.
Marist, which won its final road game of the 2024 season in a resounding victory at Stetson, now will open its '25 campaign at home against climbing FCS program New Haven.
The New Haven program is in multiple layers of transition; it is in the process of ascending to the Football Championship Subdivision after an enduring run as a perennial NCAA Division II Playoffs regular.
Additionally, New Haven just earlier this month confronted sudden change atop its football program when veteran coach Chris Pincince abruptly departed. The school elevated veteran coach Mark Powell to take over the program.
Powell most recently had been a high school defensive coordinator in Connecticut the previous two seasons bur had been hired by Pincince earlier this year to take over the New Haven defense. Powell has lengthy FCS and FBS coaching experience.
Willis returns a number of key players to his second Red Foxes team, including quarterback Sonny Mannino, and also returns respected defensive coordinator Mike Horan and has elevated TJ Weyl to offensive coordinator.
The Red Foxes had been scheduled to just an 11-game season and were slated to open Sept. 6 at home versus Bucknell in a slate that previously had only five home games. Now, Marist -- a member of the Pioneer Football League -- will get a balanced schedule that features six games apiece at home and on the road.