Sources: Marist to hire Princeton OC Mike Willis
Marist College just recently bid farewell to college football's longest-tenured coach, Jim Parady, at the NCAA Division I level.
Now the Red Foxes, sources with direct knowledge tell FootballScoop, are poised to hire one of the sport's youngest and brightest offensive minds.
Multiple sources tell FootballScoop that 32-year-old Mike Willis, Princeton's offensive coordinator and a former Ivy League champion, is set to become the Red Foxes' next head coach.
Parady announced his retirement in late November after 33 years.
Though Marist was just 4-7 overall in 2023, it posted a 4-4 ledger in Pioneer League play.
Willis starred on the offensive line at Princeton, where he won Ivy League titles as both a player and assistant coach.
He was elevated to the Tigers' offensive coordinator role three years ago and also later added the title of assistant head coach.
Sources shared with FootballScoop that Willis had been a candidate for other FCS head coaching positions during this cycle and also had been vetted by multiple FBS teams for assistant coaching roles.
Willis's Princeton offenses had a stretch-the-field, push-tempo but remain in control philosophy. He's been a part of several Ivy League titles at his alma mater, and he also helped the Tigers to an undefeated season in 2018 as well as their third Ivy League crown in five seasons in 2021.
Well-connected in the college football world, Willis also worked a number of high-profile camps this summer at the FBS level -- spots that included work at Michigan and Notre Dame.
