Submitted photo / Chris Marsco walks the Jackson-Milton sideline during the 2025 season.

In 2015, Chris Marsco was faced with a decision.

At the time, Marsco was a first-year student coach at Youngstown State, and for just a moment he had second thoughts about his desire to turn coaching into a long term endeavor.

Marsco’s indecisiveness stemmed from his introduction to coaching at the college level. YSU opened the ’15 football season at Pitt, and Marsco found himself in a coaching booth at Heinz Field, charting plays for the Penguins – then coached by Bo Pelini.

“In reality I’m up there in awe, thinking, ‘This is the legendary Heinz Field, what am I doing here, this is crazy,'” Marsco said. “I’m up there trying my best, but I might have charted maybe a quarter of what I was asked to do on our first series.

“As soon as we punted the ball, I hear Coach Pelini through the headset ask me to recap the series. I puckered up. It was clear I didn’t have everything he wanted, and hearing his reaction through the headset, I was ready to walk out. I mean, I thought I knew football until I met Coach Pelini. Then you get there and you start learning terminology and the ins and outs of the game at that level, and suddenly it was like being in Spanish 3 class without any Spanish background.”

The following day, Marsco took a step back, made a decision and set a goal.

He decided he was in this for the long haul, and he set a goal to become a head coach by his 30th birthday.

Marsco has been coaching ever since, and on Monday he achieved his goal – albeit one month late.

Marsco, who turned 31-years-old in December, was officially hired as LaBrae’s new head football coach. Marsco takes over for Jon Elliot, who stepped down at the conclusion of the 2025 season.

“It’s difficult to describe the excitement,” Marsco said. “I’m thrilled for this opportunity, and I’m anxious to get things rolling. I’m a firm believer that you identify with the football program in your town. Some people don’t like that and I understand that, but we’re in Northeast Ohio and football is a huge part of who we are.

“We want to be the coolest kid on campus within the LaBrae district. We want to get our numbers up, our spirits high and we want every student and every club in our district to feed off of the energy of our football program and benefit from it.”

A Cortland native, Marsco fell in love with football at an early age. His uncles took him to Warren G. Harding games during the Thom McDaniels era. Because of his late father’s close ties to Howland, Marsco was a waterboy for the Tigers when Dick Angle roamed the sidelines.

“It was kind of crazy to be around guys like Coach McDaniels and Coach Angle even before I was in middle school,” Marsco said. “At the time you don’t realize what an impact they are having on your life. But now I can say that they had a major influence in my decision to go into coaching and teaching. I still look at those guys as mentors.”

Marsco graduated from Lakeview, where he played for Tom Pavlansky.

“I was asked during the interview process who I wanted to model my program after, and without hesitation I referred to Coach Pav,” Marsco said. “From a football standpoint, I gained an immense amount of information. But it went well beyond that.

“Everything from how to maximize talent to how to build relationships with players, it just seemed like Coach Pav did everything the right way, and it was always about what was best for his players beyond football.”

Following his three-year stint at YSU, Marsco began his high school coaching career as an assistant at Niles. He coached with the Red Dragons for five years, then at the urging of longtime veteran coach Bill Bohren he joined the Mathews staff for a year.

In 2024 Marsco joined the Mineral Ridge staff under Brian Shaner. Last season he followed Shaner to Jackson-Milton, where he served as the defensive coordinator.

“I’ve learned valuable lessons from every coach I’ve ever worked with or been around, and I’ve been blessed to be around some of the greats,” Marsco said.

Marsco’s first goal is to increase the LaBrae roster size, noting that “If you can get to forty players, you can practice differently, you can game-plan differently.” He also wants to quickly establish a specific mindset within the program.

“We want to be the most prepared, the most excited and the most relentless team on the field every week,” Marsco said. “If we can control those aspects which are within our wheelhouse, the Xs and Os will take care of themselves. When I played for Coach Pavlansky, we never lost a game because the opponent was more prepared than we were. He wouldn’t allow that to happen.

“Three things I can control as a coach are relationships, effort and attitude. Those are the three pillars which I will build the program around.”

LaBrae High School Principal Jeff Starkey said that Marsco’s experience and ties to the area made him a logical choice to lead the Vikings’ program.

“Chris is a local coach with deep ties to this area and understands the pride and tradition of LaBrae Viking football,” Starkey said. “The selection team was impressed with his vision for the LaBrae football program throughout the interview process. He brings a solid combination of college and high school coaching experience, along with a proven ability to connect to our students and build relationships within our community.”

Marsco earned his Bachelor of Science Degree in education from YSU in May 2018 and his Master of Science Degree in health, physical education and coaching in May 2024 from Emporia State University. He currently serves as a high school resource room teacher at Lordstown High School, teaching mathematics and English language arts to students in grades 7-12.

Marsco and his wife Sara are the parents of a son, Giovanni and a daughter, Sophia.