Westfield State Owls football

1984 to 2001

From 1984 to 1986 the Owls would stay around .500 going 4-5, 5-5, and 5-4. In 1987 the Owl would experience their most successful season of the 80s finishing with an impressive 6-3 record. The owls would finish the 80s going 5-4 in '88, 3-7 in 89. The Owls would start the 90's going 3-7 in 1990 for the second year. The Owls would improve every year for the next 3 years going 4-6 in '91 6-3 in '92. In this 1992 season they would experience a heartbreaking loss in triple overtime again Umass Darthmoth. During the 1992 season the Owls offense would gain an impressive 279 yards per game would be a record that still stands today. They would experience their best season in 10 years going 7-2 with one tie against Hartwick. This would be the best season of the decade they would spend the rest of 90's hovering around .500 having mixed success. Westfield would go 5-5 in '94, 3-6 in '95, 4-6 in both 1996 and '97. In 1998 they would again go .500 and would cap of the decade going 4-6. The 2000 season proved to be a heartbreaking season the Owls would go 3-6 losing 3 games by an average of 4 points. This close games would help prepare the team for there upcoming championship runs.

2001 to 2003

In 2001 the Owls went undefeated in the regular season and winning the Bogan division and meeting Nichols college in the NEFC Championship Game which they won 12-0. However, they would come up one point short failing to advance in the NCAA playoffs in a heart breaking loss to Western Connecticut 7-8. They would finish the season with a 10-1 record. In both 2002 and 2003 the Owls would again win the Bogan division. In 2003 the Owls Finish 7-3; Advance To NEFC Championship Game for the third straight season. Highlights of the season were a 21-19 victory at Worcester State and a thrilling 27-24 come-from-behind homecoming victory over Bridgewater State. This would be the third and last time the Owls would win the division title. In there impressive three-year run the compiled a 25-7 record.

2004 to present

The Owls would finish 5-4 in 2004 and 4-5 in 2005. In 2006 they would have a difficult season going 1-8 in what would turn out to be a rebuilding season. The next year they would go 5-4 in 2007. In 2008 they would be in top form having an impressive 7-3 season however coming up just short of capturing a Bogan division title. 2010 would have a .500 season going 5-5.

Stan Martino (head coach)

The current head coach of the Owls is Steve Marino, who will begin his 23rd year coaching Westfield State in 2011. He has the second longest coaching tenure in the 16-team New England Football Conference, highlighted by three consecutive NEFC championship game appearances in 2001, 2002, and 2003. During the past nine seasons, the Owls have compiled a 41-23 divisional record. Marino guided the 2001 squad to its first perfect regular season, a 10-0 record. The Owls won their first New England Football Conference championship and qualified for their first NCAA Tournament, where they lost to Western Connecticut State, 8-7, in a first-round game. Marino's coaching during the special 2001 season did not go unnoticed as he was selected the American Football Coaches Association Northeast Region Coach of the Year; the New England Division II/III Coach of the Year by the New England sportswriters, and the Gridiron Club of Greater Boston Division II/III Coach of the Year.^[1] Marino has been the New England Football Conference Coach of the Year twice. He was a unanimous pick by the coaches during the NEFC championship season, and the NEFC Coach of the Year in 1992 when the Owls were 6-3. In the spring of 1990, Marino was named head coach at Westfield State. Marino is the fourth head coach in the Westfield State football program’s 30-year history, and he has provided the stability that was lacking in the program's first decade when there were three head coaches during an eight-year span.^[2]

Marino received his B.A. degree from Westfield State in 1971 and his master's degree in 1978. He taught English at Ludlow High School for 29 years, then moved into an administrative post as dean of students for five years before retiring in June 2006. The 1967 graduate of Springfield Classical High School coached football at Ludlow High School for 16 years, including an eight-year stint as the head coach from 1979-86. He served as defensive coordinator at Western New England College in 1987 before returning to Ludlow as an assistant in 1988. Marino's wife, Betsy, also is a 1971 graduate of Westfield State. He is also a big fan of ordering late night filet of fish sandwiches at McDonald's. They reside in Ludlow and have two sons and a daughter: Don, a 1995 graduate of Westfield State; Steve, a 1999 Westfield State graduate, and Katie, a 2000 graduate of Bridgewater State(ironically a rival of the Owls football team).^[3]

Pete "Killer" Kowalski (assistant head coach/defensive coordinator/linebackers)

Beginning his 15th season as a member of the Westfield State coaching staff, Pete Kowalski was the architect of the Owls' outstanding defense that led the nation in total defense in 2001 and 2002. Furthermore, the Owls led the NEFC in total defense in four of the past nine years and in 2009 they led the nation in turnover margin and pass efficiency defense. In addition to his title as defensive coordinator with an emphasis on linebackers, Kowalski was named the assistant head coach six years ago. Prior to Westfield, Kowalski coached for 14 years at Bulkeley High School in Hartford, Conn., and was the defensive coordinator for six seasons. Bulkeley was a state finalist in 1991 and had one of the top defenses in the state, allowing 5.4 points per game. In 1992 the Hartford school was ranked second in the state. Kowalski has a wealth of coaching experience. He has served as a track and field coach at Bulkeley since 1985, including the past 16 years as head coach. Kowalski graduated from West Springfield High School in 1972 and participated in football, basketball and track and field. He played one year of both football and lacrosse at UMass Amherst and graduated in 1977 with a health and physical education degree. He has taught health and physical education in the Hartford schools since 1980.^[4]

Sean O'Brien (defensive secondary)

Fourteenth-year assistant Sean O'Brien oversaw the secondary unit that set a school record in 2009 with 25 interceptions and led the nation in pass efficiency defense. The Owls' pass defense was ranked first in the NCAA Division III in 2005, and second nationally in 2001 and 2002. O'Brien has a wealth of coaching experience. His coaching stops include Frontier Regional High School in 1996; Fitchburg State from 1993–95; Athol High School from 1991–92; Oberlin College in Ohio in 1990; and Nichols from 1986-90. O'Brien was the defensive coordinator at both Fitchburg State and Athol High School. He was the defensive line coach at Oberlin and the secondary coach and head scout at Nichols. The Orange, Mass., native also has been the highly successful coach of the Westfield State men's and women's track and field teams for the past decade, and he was recently elevated to full-time status. O'Brien has guided the men's track and field team to 11 MASCAC championships in 12 years and 10 New England Alliance titles in 12 years. The Owls have placed in the top 10 in the New England championships in each of the past seven seasons.^[5]

Graham Raymond (defensive line)

Graham Raymond is in his second year at Westfield; he is a graduate assistant coach, pursuing a master’s in history education. Raymond majored in history at Bates, where he participated in football and track & field. He was a starting middle linebacker for two years. In track & field, he was a hammer thrower, long jumper and sprinter. Raymond graduated from Westfield High School in 2004 and was a two-way (fullback/linebacker) three-year starter and team captain. He earned All-Western Mass. Honors as a linebacker. In addition to his academic and coaching pursuits at Westfield State, Graham is an assistant track coach at Westfield High School.^[6]

Tony Couture (receivers)

Tony Couture begins his first season at Westfield State. Couture comes to Westfield from Chicopee Comprehensive High School, where he was an assistant coach for four years, including the past two seasons as defensive coordinator. Chicopee Comp won a Super Bowl title his first year and qualified for postseaon play in 2009. Couture was a standout athlete at Chicopee Comp High School. He was a three-year starter, a two-time Western Mass. first-team quarterback, and the Western Mass. player of the year as a senior in 2001. He was a two-time Western Mass. second-team selection in basketball. Couture played collegiately as a wide receiver for two years at RPI in Troy, N.Y., and during his sophomore season was a key member of the RPI squad that advanced to the NCAA Division III national semifinals. Couture graduated from RPI in 2006, majoring in industrial engineering with a minor in psychology. He is employed full-time as a physics teacher at Chicopee Comp High School. Couture was also an assistant boys’ volleyball coach at Comp High, helping to guide the Colts to three Western Mass. titles and the state championship in 2010.^[7]

Scott Woodward (quarterbacks)

Scott Woodward is a graduate assistant coach for the Owls. He graduated from UMass Amherst in the fall of 2009 and was a dependable four-year reserve quarterback for the Minutemen, playing in 41 games. He saw significant playing time his senior year and served as a backup quarterback to UMass all-time passing leader Liam Coen his first three seasons. The Wendell native was a standout three-sport athlete at Mahar Regional High School. In football, he was an All-State quarterback his senior year and a three-time All-Western Mass. all-star. The left-handed signal caller threw for 46 touchdowns and more than 4,000 yards and led Mahar to back-to-back Super Bowl titles. He was a standout punter and defensive back with 26 interceptions. He also earned All-Western Mass. honors in basketball and baseball. Woodward majored in psychology at UMass and is pursuing a master's degree in guidance counseling at Westfield.^[8]