Geno DeMarco: Head Football Coach Who Almost Wasn’t
Oh, the irony! Geno DeMarco, among the longest tenured coaches at any one school in college football, was willing to give up the sport that provided his amazing longevity. Now retired from his head coach position, he spent 33 years coaching at Geneva College in Beaver Falls, PA, and shares that there were actually three times when he was prepared to walk away from the sport he loved. His career could have been halted way before it took root and flourished.
Geno’s gridiron journey began in his hometown of New Brighton, which is about 30 miles east of Pittsburgh. His dad, a pastor in the local Christian Assembly Church, which Geno’s Italian immigrant grandparents founded, was also his youth football coach.
“Growing up in my house in western Pennsylvania, football was IT. The way I was coached and all the people I knew loved football.” The only things more important were God and family.
Geno says his coaches through the years had a great impact on him. “In high school, I played on a team that went 0-10 but the coach was a tremendous man. He didn’t focus on our failures, but saw us as individuals. He treated us, at 16 years old, like we were men.”
Graduating from high school, he didn’t consider going to Geneva College, which was right in his backyard. He remembers that he was “too cool” for that. He needed to go bigger and better, he thought.
So he went to Baldwin Wallace, a college that had just won a NCAA Division III national championship in football.
It was a busy year for Geno. He played baseball, was a DJ on the school’s radio station and even wrote some articles for the school newspaper. But best of all was playing football. That was Geno’s love.
“When I took a mandatory religion class, I was at complete odds with what was taught. I didn’t agree with the basic premise of the academics. So I had to decide if I wanted to sit under teaching I believed was wrong. Or maybe I didn’t feel that I was strong enough in my commitment to Christ to refute it. I’m not sure, but I definitely didn’t feel comfortable.”
He explained, “There was a collegiate atmosphere there where I could easily get on a path of not-so-good decisions. At the end of the first year I sat in my dorm room, completely down. I had gotten everything I thought I wanted and yet it wasn’t right at all. I knew I needed a change.”
“For the first time I prayed, Lord, if you want to take football away, you’ve got it.” Geno was willing to give up football to be in the place that was right, where God wanted him. He knew that God, and following His path, was most important.
His willingness to give up football is reminiscent of Abraham’s test to give up his son Isaac in the Old Testament. Abraham was willing to sacrifice his son if that’s what the Lord wanted. Football certainly isn’t the same as a son, but it was the passion of Geno’s heart.
“Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.” – Genesis 22:12
After a great deal of prayer, consideration and discussion, Geno transferred to Geneva College. And it was a game changer. “My initial view of Geneva was that it was smothered in rules. I didn’t know what Geneva had to offer besides a football field.”
It didn’t take long for him to realize that things were done exceptionally well at Geneva. It was what he needed in many ways.
Geno says that going to Geneva taught him the “absolute importance” of a Christ-centered education and a Christian worldview.
“The professors encouraged me, taught me how to study and pushed me to do better. They didn’t just view me as a football or baseball guy, but saw something more. They fanned the flame of loving to learn. That love was created in the classroom with professors across the three different major I studied,” he says. “And I still have that love of learning today.”
So Geno played two sports and graduated with three majors – psychology, business and a brand-new major called computer information systems.
After graduating from Geneva, Geno considered an offer to work for the CIA, but decided he would continue his education. He went to Atlanta to get his master’s degree and be an assistant football coach at Georgia Tech. His head coach, Bill Curry, had played for Vince Lombardi. “This was an incredible experience, one that was truly coveted. I was around people who had coached all over the country and was like a sponge, taking it all in.”
The degree he was working towards at Georgia Tech was a Master in Science and Management. He realized, though, that he really wanted a Master in Business, which wasn’t offered at Georgia Tech. When he explained to the coach that was going to consider a move elsewhere, Coach Curry gave him his support and good recommendation.
Geno secured a grad assistant/coaching position at West Virginia University under Coach Don Nehlen. Geno loved football and his education at WVU. “It was a good fit.”
He comments, “I learned a lot about coaching football at those two schools. At Georgia Tech I learned the WHY of coaching. The objective under Coach Curry, a devout Christian, was to impact young men’s lives. At WVU, I learned the HOW of coaching. Coach Nehlen taught me nuts and bolts. They were two incredible men.”
When his GA position was over, Coach Nehlen encouraged Geno to coach at another college. But Geno was going in a different direction.
He applied for a marketing position at Upjohn Pharmaceutical, a Fortune 100 company. The interview at the headquarters in Kalamazoo, Michigan was as “intimidating as could be,” Geno remembers. He was hired.
At the same time, Geno had his eye on a young lady he had met earlier. He had been introduced to Cheryl Bryan through a friend. She recalls that meeting, too. “He was the nicest man, really funny and an all-around great guy. I wasn’t interested in a relationship at that time, but the meeting started a spark and we both remembered each other.”
After Geno got the job at Upjohn, he ran into Cheryl again. As they were talking, he asked her to wait for him until he returned from training in Michigan in six months. She did. “He was persistent,” Cheryl says, “and he just worked his way into my life.” The two dated for three years and then got married.
Geno was able to work for Upjohn from his home in Pennsylvania. “More than just having sales job, I felt like I was part of the pharmaceutical community. We made a difference in people’s lives.” He says his boss taught him to be a professional. He was also a football fanatic, so Geno was able to be a volunteer coach at Geneva College.
He says, “I felt like I could give back to Coach Gene Sullivan and the football program where I’d grown so much. I loved it.”
“I was getting more and more responsibility as a coach. At the same time, I thought I’ll never be the president of Upjohn and I’ll never be the head football coach at Geneva, but life was good. And it was also a great time for Cheryl and me to start our family.”
But then a new boss at Upjohn told him he was putting in too much time at Geneva and the coaching had to end. Geno could also no longer turn down promotions that would lead to longer hours. He needed to be dedicated to work and to grow with the company.
Geno prayed that prayer he first prayed at Baldwin Wallace. “I told him, Lord, if you want me to give up football, I’ll give it up. I’ll go to work every day and work unto you. And I did. It was the most successful time I’d had working for Upjohn. I had the best sales and most recognitions I’d had from the company in seven years.”
One day he was sitting at a car dealership getting his company car inspected. With three to four hours of free time on his hands, Geno wrote a story about a young man growing up in western Pennsylvania, going to Geneva College and playing football. Geno wrote about it from Johnny’s perspective, detailing what the football program was like and how it should be run. There was so much in this story that it became a game plan for him. He wrote it, having no clue that he would become the head coach. Geneva football, which he had given up, was still top of his mind and top of his heart.
About that time, Coach Sullivan was discussing his probable retirement with the then-president of Geneva College. He recommended Geno to be his successor.
And Geno was wondering if he was really supposed to be working for Upjohn. Cheryl remembers that he told her he didn’t want to stand before the Lord someday and tell Him he sold pharma drugs. It was unfulfilling.
She says, “I heard the phone ringing in the other room and after a while he came out, wearing an amazed expression. He said, ‘You’ll never guess … Coach Gene is stepping down and wants me to apply to be the head coach.’”
God was bringing football back to Geno’s life, they both knew.
The DeMarcos prayed about the position. Geno applied for it, interviewed, and was named head coach of Geneva College Football. The first person Geno hired was his old coach and mentor, Gene Sullivan. Geno had plenty of knowledge, expertise and passion to coach, but he was also smart enough to realize he didn’t know everything.
And so his coaching career at Geneva took off. Cheryl says, “He never looked back. I don’t think either one of us would change what he was doing. He had other opportunities during those years but he didn’t want to leave Geneva. And he wanted to keep his family rooted.”
Geno went on to have a record-breaking career over 33 seasons, totaling 173 wins, more than any other coach in Geneva College history. Along with a winning career record, he had five wins in seven bowl games, a NAIA playoff tournament win, and two-time Mid-States Football Association Championships.
But Geno’s accomplishments went well beyond the football field. “What an incredible tool football has been,” he explains. “It morphed into an amazing platform to introduce people to Jesus and share the gospel to every one of our players.”
"Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.”
– Proverbs 19:21
Athletic Director Van Zanic, who watched Geno at work for years, says, “For over three decades, Geno DeMarco impacted the lives of hundreds of young men on an off the field. On the field, he won more football games than any other coach in the 135-year history of Geneva football. The impact that Coach DeMarco made off the field goes far deeper than wins and losses. His faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is unwavering and he has displayed that love to the players and coaches within the program since stepping foot on Geneva’s campus.”
Tommy Contenta, who played for Geno and then coached alongside him, agrees. “Geno wears his faith on his sleeve. He is ultra-competitive as a coach, while being full of light and love as a Christian. He showed me that you could be a real guy and a strong Christian at the same time. He could be tough on a guy on the field, and then chat with the player later in his office, put his arm around him and let him know he cares.”
Through the years, Geno’s teams had weekly chapel gatherings, called More than Conquerors. They discussed scripture, faith and their lives. Tommy remembers how the “strong people poured out into others who weren’t as strong. And you could see them grow in their faith, finding their purpose.”
Watching him over the years, Cheryl says, “Geno’s ability to reach and teach others is a gift.”
Geno’s impact on his team was amazing, Tommy Contenta says. “Football players grew in their faith under Coach DeMarco. And a lot of football players came to a saving faith through that program.”
Tommy remembers, “I had a roommate who didn’t know the difference between Jesus and Moses. That changed when he played Geneva football. He became a good player on the team, but more importantly, he became a believer in the saving power of Christ. He discovered and lived out his meaning and purpose in life. That’s one guy’s story – and there are hundreds more.”
Geno was just as impactful at home. He and Cheryl enjoy a relationship that’s deepened over the years. While being immersed in the male-dominated world of football, Geno loves being a girl dad to their daughters Alexa, Jessica, Grace and Rachel. He’s delighted their husbands are fellow football enthusiasts. And of course, there’s no joy like being Pappy to eight beautiful grandbabies.
After a long and successful career as Geneva Head Football coach and some serious health scares, Geno was feeling the need to move into the next season of life. He had the same prayer as before. “God, what do you want me to do? I will give up football if that’s what you want.” Once again, he was willing to follow God’s plan.
After much prayer and discussion with Cheryl and others whose opinions he valued, Geno announced that he would step down as head coach at the end of the 2025 season. Geneva conducted an extensive national search for a new coach, but the best candidate ended up being right under their noses. They named football alum and 19-year Geneva coaching team member Tommy Contenta as the new head coach of Geneva football.
Most coaches wouldn’t have the previous head coach be part of their coaching team. However, just as Geno once hired his previous head coach Gene Sullivan be on his coaching staff, new head coach Tommy Contenta asked Geno to serve on his.
“Geno still has a lot to give,” he explains. “He’s forgotten more football than most people will ever know. And he’s passionate about mentorship. I’m thankful to have him serving as quarterback coach at Geneva.”
Tommy continues, “I want to build on the strong program that Geneva already had, thanks to Geno. It’s kind of like rebuilding the temple in Old Testament times. It’s a good thing there’s a great foundation, but you still need to build the new temple.”
So the coach who was willing to give up football if that’s what the Lord wanted ended up with quite a long and successful career in the sport. And he's still going.
Newly hired head coach Tommy Contenta has a lot to say about Geno DeMarco’s legacy, but one statement shines above the rest.
“There are hundreds of guys who became stronger in their Christian faith because of Geno DeMarco. And there are hundreds more who are going to stand before Jesus one day just because Geno DeMarco shared the truth of the gospel.”
That’s true, says Van Zanic. “Coach DeMarco has left a legacy that will live on forever.”
That’s quite a testament about a man who almost gave up football three times.
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Photos are Courtesy of Geneva College Athletics and Cheryl DeMarco
The heart behind this coach is amazing. Loved the blog!
Wonderful and very inspirational story