Geno DeMarco didn’t build Geneva College’s football program on trends, schemes, or quick fixes. Instead, he built it on something far more durable — continuity, calling, and a commitment to serving people first.
In an era when coaches jump jobs and staffs reshuffle every offseason, Geno’s approach feels almost countercultural. That contrast is exactly why it stands out.
A Culture Built on Staying Power
Stability is easy to talk about and hard to live with, yet Geno lived it every year of his career at Geneva.
Rather than treating assistants as replaceable parts, he built a staff where they became extensions of the mission. Former players came back as coaches. Trusted hands stayed for decades. Meanwhile, young coaches learned under veterans who understood the program’s heartbeat.
He captured it simply:
“Continuity wins.”
Because he believed that truth, it shaped everything that followed — from how he hired, to how he taught, to how he navigated the hardest seasons.
Hiring for Fit, Not Flash
Geno’s hiring philosophy rests on three non-negotiables:
- Trust
- A drive for constant improvement
- A genuine care for others
Rather than presenting it as a leadership theory, he described it as common sense — the same qualities players expect from their coaches.
He put it plainly:
“If you can find someone with those three attributes… we’re going to have a good staff.”
As a result, he assembled coaches who aligned with his mission — not just his scheme.
Servant Leadership as the Foundation
Geno’s leadership style is rooted in one core idea: model the action you want others to follow.
That meant handling the unseen work, taking the tough jobs, owning the mistakes, leading without a spotlight, and always putting people before positions.
He said it in a way only a veteran coach could:
“If you can’t serve… people will not follow you.”
Its simplicity is what makes it powerful.
A Calling, Not a Career Move
Geno didn’t return to Geneva for a title or a contract. Instead, he came back because the work mattered to him beyond football.
Although he left a Fortune 100 company and took a pay cut, he stepped into a program shaped by the shadow of a legendary coach. Even so, he embraced it because the mission aligned with his life.
As he often explained, coaching wasn’t about techniques or depth charts — it was about investing in people. Everything else flowed from that.
Reinventing a Program Without Losing Its Soul
Throughout his tenure, Geno steered Geneva through major shifts on both sides of the ball. He moved the program from a traditional triple-option attack to an Air Raid identity. Along the way, he rebuilt a secondary that struggled early and reshaped it into a reliable unit. Additionally, he blended tempo, technology, analytics, and a new generation of coaches with the program’s longstanding core of belief and toughness.
Even with all that change, he never drifted from what Geneva football represents. Continuity wasn’t a refusal to change — it was a commitment to alignment.
The Vulnerability to Lead Honestly
Geno’s readiness to admit his mistakes has always defined him. Instead of hiding behind excuses or shifting blame, he talked openly about moments of insecurity, hires that fell short, and the work required to grow through them.
Because that transparency is rare, his lessons feel lived-in rather than preached.
Why His Blueprint Matters Now More Than Ever
The modern game shifts constantly. Staff turnover is quick, and players move more than ever. Furthermore, NIL and the transfer portal create nonstop movement, while schemes evolve almost as fast as they appear.
In the middle of all that chaos, Geno’s message stays steady:
Invest in people. Hire for character. Serve first. Build continuity. Stay true to the mission.
These ideas don’t belong to any single era — they outlast them. Consequently, Geneva’s program still reflects his influence long after the last whistle.
The Blueprint in One Line
Geno DeMarco lived his career on this truth:
Programs last when people stay, grow, and serve together.
That’s the legacy he leaves — and the standard every coach can build toward.
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About Geno DeMarco
Geno DeMarco is the most accomplished and longest-tenured head coach in the 130-year history of Geneva College football. Entering his 33rd season in 2025, he has compiled a program-record 167 wins since taking over in 1993 and stands as the longest-tenured active head coach in NCAA Division III — and tied for the longest-tenured head coach at any level of the NCAA.
Under his leadership, Geneva has reached the postseason 13 times, including four NAIA national tournament appearances and five NCCAA Victory Bowl championships. His sustained success led to his induction into the NCCAA Hall of Fame in 2023.
A former standout linebacker and NAIA Academic All-American at Geneva, DeMarco began his coaching career under Hall of Fame coaches Bill Curry (Georgia Tech) and Don Nehlen (West Virginia), experiences he credits as foundational to his leadership journey. More than 160 of his former players have gone on to coach at various levels, reflecting his long-standing commitment to developing men as well as athletes.
DeMarco holds degrees in Psychology, Information Systems, and Business Administration, as well as an MBA from West Virginia. In addition to coaching, he teaches in Geneva’s business program. He and his wife, Cheryl, reside in Beaver County and have four daughters and two grandchildren.
Related:
“Continuity and Connection: How Clayt Birmingham Built a Program That Feels Like Family”
More on Coach Geno DeMarco
Transcript
John Snell (00:01)
Let’s head to Geneva, Pennsylvania to meet with our head coach of the week, Gino DiMarco from Geneva College. Gino ended the season with a big win 45 to 16 over Case Western Reserve. Gino, congrats on a great win, an incredible career, and for being recognized by Logan and Keith as our head coach of the week. We want to give you an opportunity to, again, give some props to your staff and
and recognize them for a couple seconds here. So again, congrats.
Geno (00:34)
Well, coach, thank you. Before I give props to them, I’d like to give props to both of you and to all of you for doing such a great job and being able to help coaches in our industry. That’s what separates football from other industries is when we have ideas, we share them, we don’t hoard them. It’s just in business, that’s just an absolute foreign concept. But ⁓ I will tell you that putting this staff together,
Continuity wins. I think we’ve seen that over the years. If you look at Coach Trussell and how things happened at BW over the years as far as continuity, any coach will say that. And trying to keep these guys. So what I did is I’ve got a defensive coordinator, Tom Contenna, who did an amazing and who’s doing an amazing job preparing our guys. And I know some coaches always say this just to make things look right. But we’re really concerned about the… ⁓
the experience that we had in the secondary. early on, people were just lighting us up. ⁓ He’s done a great job ⁓ with the defense. Him and Dom Henderson, is a guy that both of these guys played here. So they understand the culture. ⁓ I have to give props to Linwood Alford, and he has coached here before. He had a great career at Syracuse and is…
Al Okwepa guy, it just brings so much enthusiasm to that side of the ball. And then lastly, on the defensive side, John McCullough, our defensive line coach who was an incredible player in D2 and helps with our strength program. They’re just ball coaches. They really are. ⁓ so on the offensive side, our receiver coach has been with me for probably 20.
25 years, Keith Humphrey’s played at Louisville and was an Al Quippa product and he’s done an exceptional job over the decades of producing all American receivers. Even when we were going through the triple option years, he was there. I brought back Jason Morgo, gave him the title as offensive coordinator as something that
John Snell (02:36)
Thank
Geno (03:00)
we would build together. And where I saw Jason fitting in, because he played here, he was with us before when we ran a lot of this aerate stuff, ⁓ was just tempo. He was used to coaching practice with tempo in mind. And I needed to have that in place. So he’s done an amazing job in preparing the guys from the speed at which we have to practice.
and being able to learn some protections. mean, coming out of running triple and going straight into going air raid, whatever you want to call this, it was a monumental task. We’ve got a young guy, Will Benson, who’s an O-line coach as well. Just an outstanding young coach and a graduate assistant that we got from Coastal Carolina that came in.
John Snell (03:49)
Thank
Geno (03:57)
I’ll tell you what coach, I get these young guys man and I just pick their brains and they’ve got some great ideas and we try to put some stuff together with what we’ve done in the past and before you know it, this isn’t a me thing, it’s a us thing.
John Snell (04:15)
Well, you know, you’re one of the legends in our profession, the guy that’s been ⁓ obviously able to stay at one place and establish a program and a career. And you’ve obviously gone through many people in terms of a staff. And we talk about sharing something with our listeners and you talked about preparing a staff. So again, somebody with your history and experience.
If anyone knows how to prepare staff, it’s you. So again, how about you share with our listeners for a few minutes, ⁓ your thoughts on preparing a staff.
Geno (04:54)
Well, I think preparing the staff comes from your overall vision of what you want to do. And every coach has a different pathway. I was fortunate, very fortunate. My first two jobs were with Hall of Fame coaches who taught me how to coach ball. And that was Bill Curry at Georgia Tech who did more from a standpoint of why football is important. And then being with Don Nealon at West Virginia.
where I actually understood what we needed to do in coaching football. So those two things really help you when you’re a young guy. And it’s very difficult finding young guys, they want to get a chance, they want to be able to do it. But I think the biggest thing is looking for a staff is what is the mission of what you want to do? What are the objectives you’re putting down, short-term goals that are easily understood and that you can measure?
All these things we learn at different clinics and it’s no different than running a company. But your imprint is a head coach is going to be defined about how they view you and what they see you doing as a servant. If you can’t serve, if you can’t do things ⁓ for your staff, if you can’t model those things, people will not follow you. I mean, they’ll respect you for a short time, but they will not follow you.
So it’s kind of like going a second mile. And a lot of what we do and a lot of what we’ve done over the years, and I got to say this, coach, is I have studied, you know, earning an MBA and having an MBA and all this. I’ve studied different things in areas of psychology and info systems, but I can’t turn my computer on. I really can’t. I mean, that info systems degree was in 1983.
I mean, what’s it worth now? But only the reason I say it is just to try to impress people. And then I got the MBA from West Virginia. And I spent seven years in a Fortune 100 company. And the reason I did is the money was great, but I also was able to be a volunteer to give back. So when you put a staff together, the first thing you do is you learn from experience of the people that you worked for before.
John Snell (06:53)
you
Geno (07:17)
And you take and you look and you say, okay, what are the things that I learned from all of these men, these great men? And even in situations like playing college ball and playing for Coach Gene Sullivan, who was his actual legend, I could never fill his shoes here. He cast such a huge shadow, an excellent shadow. It’s just very difficult. And learning from the various stops I had, being at Baldwin Wallace and seeing the interaction of that staff.
and that legacy that has remained there for so long. So you put a staff together and you base it on different things. What’s your objective? What’s the goal? And I know there are young guys out there that want to get in and use D3 or use their first stop ⁓ to be able to grow. Coach Nealon taught me this. He goes, guys who look for the next job usually lose the one they have currently.
I just believe when we came to Geneva and came back to do this, I took a huge pay cut to do it. But it was a calling, it was a mission, it was more than just football. It was about investing into the lives of players and young men. So if you have a purpose in your mission and you can make it about the players as a person and not just a five technique, you know, who can…
who can come off the edge or a three technique who can gobble up a double team or being able to get a quarterback that can check three times. And look at these young men as people. I hate saying that, but just flat out people. And I believe this recipe would even hold up in today’s NIL thing at the Division I level because what causes people to stay? Is it the money? ⁓ obviously, yes.
But what we’ve learned before is there’s intrinsic factors and motivation to keep players and keep coaches at a place for a while. I think about the longevity and you look at what was on that Baldwin Wallace staff at that time when Larry Van Dusen being a defensive coordinator now long and the excellence that he had. ⁓ And I’ve been fortunate with this. I’ve had some continuity in the years that we’ve been really, really bad is when
John Snell (09:23)
Thank
Geno (09:43)
You know, the coaching staff was a revolving door. So it’s really a blend between trying to understand what the needs are and what the wants are. Of the guys you’re hiring, they have to fit. They have to fit. And they may be guys that want to say, coach, I want to be here for three years and I want to go. And you’ve got to hire those guys knowing that that’s what’s going to happen. I think the other thing as a leader is a really good leader will hire people that can do some things.
and do a lot of things better than what you can do and not be like, ⁓ you know, well, I’m paranoid about it because there is this paranoia that occurs in leadership, you know, and especially with football coaches. I mean, we’ve seen it over the years. I’ve been in places where, you know, we were talking about the game plan in the 80s and we couldn’t throw the game plan away in a garbage can at the hotel the night before because God forbid somebody will come in and check the trash.
John Snell (10:39)
you
Geno (10:43)
I mean, where is this like paranoia come from? Honestly, I really, and I have it, I still have this. Like, know, wipe the board down. We don’t want anybody to see it. We don’t want anybody to see it. We’re sharing everything. ⁓ So these are kind of some of the things I’m talking too much. I’ll shut up and you guys just fire away because I’ve done things the right way. And I can tell you, I’ve made some of the most miserable hires, all right?
John Snell (10:48)
You
Geno (11:12)
in the history of college football. And it’s been because, not because of them, or might’ve been because of me. You think maybe once in a while the problem might’ve been me? Yeah, absolutely. Do we make bad hires? Yeah. I know you never did as a head coach. You never made a bad hire. Never. I did. And yeah, I really…
I’d like to really be transparent about this because man, if we can get ball coaches together to talk about this stuff and really be transparent about who we are and the securities we have as a leader and the insecurities that we have, then we’re going to find out what fits and what doesn’t fit. And a leader is somebody going to take the bullet when everybody ⁓ is saying, what’s going on over there at Geneva? They can’t win anymore. And you’ve got to take the bullet for the college and for your team.
I mean, you can’t get up there and be the comedian that just says, you know, they’re all terrible and, know, blah, blah, blah. Yeah, go ahead. Get me with something.
John Snell (12:21)
Well, you know, we’re all guilty, unfortunately, Gino, of making some poor decisions in terms of hiring. I think that’s part of it. And if any head coach says they never did that or had that situation, I’m not sure if they’re being honest. if If you were to say, in terms of hiring an assistant, the number one most important quality that that assistant should have, what would you say it would be?
Geno (12:47)
It’s got to be loyalty. It has to be trust. And that’s what’s tough is because you got three things that you’re looking for. You’re looking for trust. You you want trust from your players. You want your players to trust you. ⁓ You got to have ⁓ people that look to be in this mode of constant improvement because that brings hope to a program.
So you’re looking for coaches that have that same kind of thing. And then the bottom line is, I mean, they got to care about somebody else other than themselves. Our players ask us the same questions. It’s not really hard. It really isn’t. If you can find someone with those three attributes, and they have those, and they bring an expertise, and so I don’t care if they’re four coverages on defense. It doesn’t matter. mean, we can go and get
coached up and schooled up. We got that kind of thing going on from a character standpoint. We’re going to have a good staff.
John Snell (13:47)
Yeah, we’ve always said we’ve got to hire people of character, people with competence, and people who essentially can fit into the chemistry of the program. And if you hire those three things, then I think you’re hiring quality people, you know. And again, I’m sure you did plenty of that over the course of your career. Again, we want to congratulate you and thank you for spending time with us.
Geno (14:00)
Yeah.
John Snell (14:15)
Congrats on again an incredible career. I’m being recognized as our head coach of the week and we wish you the best.
Geno (14:23)
Well, ⁓ this is really an honor to get this type of recognition from the place where I started. ⁓ it will always be a special place for me. I got to get back in laboratory to find out how we’re going to be able to move the bowl against this team that’s bigger, faster, stronger, meaner.
John Snell (14:46)
Yeah
Geno (14:46)
You
know how it is. mean, today’s Wednesday. mean, give me a couple more days. On Friday, we might have a chance to win. You should have been in here Monday morning. Monday morning, you know, the score was like 105 to, I think we got a field goal, maybe. Thanks, Coach. I appreciate this real thing, Thank you.
John Snell (15:02)
Yeah. Good luck.