NEW CANAAN, CT — Since coming to New Canaan High School in 1981, football coach Lou Marinelli has earned just about every award imaginable. On Wednesday evening, he added yet another accolade to his incredible resume.
At the National High School Athletic Coaches Association National Coaches Convention in Bismarck, North Dakota, Marinelli was presented the national football Coach of the Year award. He was one of eight finalists for the honor, with the others hailing from Nebraska, Mississippi, New Jersey, Minnesota, South Dakota, North Dakota and Illinois.
When Marinelli arrived on the New Canaan campus, he interited a program which had been winless in its previous 30 games. He immediately instilled a winning tradition, guiding the Rams to the Class L-II state title in his second season. Thirteen more state championships would follow: 1993, 2001, 2002, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2022 and 2023.
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Last fall, the Rams posted an overall record of 12-1, including a 28-21 victory over Darien in the Class L championship contest at Rentschler Field. Already the state’s winningest high school football coach, Marinelli inproved his record at New Canaan to 374-106-6, a .776 winning percentage.
He has been inducted into four halls of fame: Connecticut High School Coaches Association (2009), FCIAC (2013), Fairfield County Sports (2016) and Springfield College (2019). He has also earned numerous Coach of the Year and similar accolades, and in 2018, he was a recipient of the prestigious Gold Key Award from the Connecticut Sports Media Alliance, one of the highest honors in state sports.
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As of publication time, Marinelli had not yet returned a message from Patch seeking comment.
North Branford field hockey coach Babby Nuhn, also a Gold Key honoree, was the only other Connecticut coach to be honored at this year’s convention.
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