Brennan Marion believes controversial comments from president have led to a “10-to-1” penalty discrepancy
Before helping Barry Odom flip the script at UNLV turning the Rebels offense into must-watch TV with the Go-Go offense, Brennan Marion carved out a role as one of the game’s most respected receiver coaches with stops at Hawaii, Pitt, and Texas – where he added the pass game coordinator title in Austin.
Before the jump to coaching in major college football, where he previously starred as a record breaking receiver at Tulsa, Marion had the Go-Go offense rolling at both Howard and William & Mary, where he used his innovative and disciplined option approach to keep defensive coordinators up at night.
After Odom left UNLV for Purdue, Marion landed the opportunity to run his own Division I football program at Sacramento State, a place that has not be quiet about their hunger to jump from FCS to FBS.
That charge is being led by Sacramento State president Dr. Luke Wood, whose signature approach and penchant for not censoring his thoughts has ruffled more than a few feathers.
This was most recently on display as Sacramento State welcomed Montana, as Woods poked the Grizzlies by calling them the “Pandas” while also proclaiming that his Hornets were living “rent free” in the heads of Montana fans.
Now Marion is speaking out the controversial comments may be hurting them on the football field.
Among the most penalized teams in the country, the Hornets are averaging 9 penalties per game and are ranked 118th out of 126 FBS programs in the category, and they rank 111th nationally giving away 573 yards in penalties on the year.
Frustrated, Marion pointed to comments made in the summertime that he says did not reflect the program or himself, and after experiencing the penalty discrepancy his team has faced through eight games this fall, is suggesting that many folks have taken those comments to heart and his team is paying the price.
“It has been really disheartening to our program, and our players, that we get labeled as an undisciplined program from the standpoint that every team that we play becomes the most disciplined team in the country, and we end up getting 10-to-1 penalties in every single game that we play.”
10-to-1? That seemed a bit preposterous, so we took a look. Some near 2-to-1 and 3-to-1 ratios, and some a bit closer, but Marion is right in that their game against the Pandas…er, Grizzlies, was called at a 10-to-1 ratio with regards to penalties.
OPPONENT (SCORE)OPPONENT PENALTIES – YARDSSACRAMENTO STATE PENALTIES – YARDS@ SOUTH DAKOTA STATE (L 20-3)5 – 50 9 – 66
@ NEVADA (L 20-17)7 – 629 – 71vs MERCYHURST (W 49-28)4 – 408 – 73vs CENTRAL ARKANSAS (W 45-16)4 – 358 – 67vs CAL POLY (L 32-24)5 – 5310 – 62@ WEBER STATE (W 55-27)4 – 2511 – 94vs NORTHERN COLORADO (W 40-35)2 – 257 – 60vs MONTANA (L 49-35)1 – 510 – 80TOTAL32 – 295 72 – 573
“Unfortunately, I can’t control what people’s perception was with those comments,” Marion shares, before noting they have had a total of eight touchdowns called back due to penalties.
“Every other program I’ve been a part of, we don’t have to deal with this, it’s usually fair with five penalties to five penalties or six penalties to six penalties. So if you look back at my career, and my resume as a coach, we were a very disciplined program, and we did things the right way, and we were all about sportsmanship.”
“Unfortunately, people are upset about the comments made, and people have a human element to them where they want to make us pay for those comments, but 10-to-1 penalties in every game this year, we can pretend like we’re not an undisciplined team, but that doesn’t happen. The other team makes penalties too.”
Hear more from Marion in the clip.
