Westmoreland campus clippings: Brennan Marion's offensive influence grows

Brennan Marion’s GoGo offense has made its way around the country since he put the system in place a few years ago at Howard.

Marion, a Greensburg Salem graduate, has seen shades of his offense in plays run by Lincoln Riley at Oklahoma, and even in the NFL by Kliff Kingsbury of the Arizona Cardinals and Bill Belichick of the New England Patriots — among other places.

Notieriety usually bounces back to Marion, who is currently the wide receivers coach at Hawaii.

His rise in the coaching ranks landed him on FootballScoop.com’s Minority Coaches 2020-21 Watch List.

The list also includes Robert Morris head coach Bernard Clark Jr.; Ohio State coach Larry Johnson, the former Penn State assistant; former Steelers quarterback Byron Leftwich, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ offensive coordinator; another former Steeler in Tee Martin, the assistant head caoch at Tennessee; Penn State grad Jeff Nixon, the Carolina Panthers’ running backs coach; and Pitt safeties coach Cory Sanders.

Deion Sanders, yes, “Prime Time,” who is the head coach at Jackson State, also made the list.

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Football

Akron: Redshirt sophomore defensive lineman Logan Hawkins (Penn-Trafford) has appeared in five games as a reserve this season for the Zips (1-4). He has four tackles, three of them solo.

Saint Vincent: Bearcats coach Aaron Smetanka has been named to the American Football Coaches Association’s 35 Under 35 Coaches Leadership Institute. The program aims to identify and develop future leaders in the coaching position and invites those selected to attend a one-day event that addresses key areas in that development.

The 2021 convention was moved to a virtual format, but this year’s coaches can attend the 2020 event.

Applicants had to be born on or after Jan. 1, 1986, to be eligible and must serve as a high school head coach, two-year college assistant or head coach, or NCAA/NAIA assistant or head coach.

College coaches must work full-time.

Applicants view the process like a job interview. They must submit a resume, essay and instructional video.

Smetanka, a former SVC quarterback, took over at his alma mater in 2018. The Bearcats finished 3-7 in 2019. The 2020 season was canceled due to the covid-19 pandemic.

Also making the AFCA list was Robert Morris third-year assistant head coach and defensive coordinator Dave Plungas, and Penn State offensive line coach Phil Trautwein.