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Rod Marinelli: 45 years ago as college student he interned at Cowboys Training Camp
Aug 12th, 2016
/
by Kristi Scales
http://www.5pointsblue.com/rod-mari...llege-student-interned-cowboys-training-camp/
Cowboys defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli has something in common with the student volunteers and interns at training camp: his first exposure to an NFL camp took place on a Cowboys practice field in California. Just twenty miles southbound on Hwy 101 from Oxnard is Thousand Oaks and the California Lutheran University campus where the Cowboys held camp from 1963-1988.
Marinelli is a proud graduate of CLU where he joined the football team after serving our country during a tour of duty in Vietnam. He starred as an All-American offensive tackle and team captain on CLU’s 1971 NAIA national championship team. During the summer he volunteered at Cowboys Training Camp and found himself gravitating towards the coaches more than the pro players.
The strong impressions made by legendary Cowboys coaches more than 40 years ago still resonate with him today.
“When we were seniors, the captains had the chance to be gofers at camp, do odd jobs, whatever the coaches needed us to do,” Marinelli recalls. “You just had a chance to watch and learn. And I was learning more from the coaches than the players. My mind was already focused in that direction. There were really good coaches like Ernie Stautner and Coach Landry. I mean, wow! They were unbelievable.”
“I worked with Alvin Roy, the strength coach. I put the weights on and he told me to watch the numbers. I would try to get over to the offensive and defensive line coaches and pick up the cones, whatever they needed me to do. I was watching these guys coach every day and that was the fun part about it.”
And what about his interactions with the players?
“We didn’t get to practice alongside the players on the field, but what stands out in my mind is how lean they all were,” says Marinelli. “They were so tall and lean, not a fat guy in the bunch. That’s my recollection of the players.”
Marinelli also had off-the-field training camp duties.
“We were driving guys back-and-forth to the airport, the guys who got cut from the team,” he says. “But you were around it, part of the environment of a professional camp so you saw everything, good and bad, including players getting cut.”
Marinelli graduated from Cal Lutheran in 1972 and got his first coaching job as an assistant at his alma mater, Rosemead High School, in his hometown of Rosemead, California which is just east of Los Angeles, about 70 miles from Oxnard. These days, the Rosemead Panthers play their games on a field proudly named for their famous alumnus, Rod Marinelli Field.
Working his way up the coaching ladder, Marinelli made the leap from high school to college football in 1976 at Utah State as the defensive line coach. It was the first of 20 years of coaching in the college ranks with additional stints at Cal, Arizona State, and Southern California. He broke into the NFL ranks with Tampa Bay in 1996.
But it all started on the Cowboys practice fields in Thousand Oaks.
“My first experience with professional football was about class and that’s always stayed with me,” Marinelli reflects. “It was how they worked and how they did business.”
The Cowboys’ upcoming 2016 preseason opener on Saturday night against the Rams at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum is also exciting for Marinelli. Rosemead is only 15 miles from The Coliseum, so when he was in high school, Marinelli used to hitchhike to the stadium to see pro football.
“Oh, for me growing up, it was the best,” Marinelli says of the stadium. “I played there in a high school All Star game. I grew up in the shadows of The Coliseum and the USC campus so it was always big for me, especially when the Rams used to play there.”
“Do you know Chuy & Scibelli (Rams guards Don Chuy & Joe Scibelli)? They were my idols growing up. It was supposed to be Chuy, Scibelli and Marinelli (Rod played offensive tackle in high school and college). The Coliseum was also the site of the 1932 Summer Olympics when they had a football game there. I think the Olympic swimming pool is still there outside the stadium.”
“The NFL also played the Pro Bowl there at The Coliseum. I hitchhiked to the Pro Bowl. Back then hitchhiking was no big deal. That was great. At one time, the Rams, USC and UCLA all played at The Coliseum. So it has great history. And if you walk across the street you’re on the USC campus. I coached there (1995). If you get a chance, walk the campus because you’ll enjoy it. I can’t wait to go back for the game this weekend.”
Aug 12th, 2016
/
by Kristi Scales
http://www.5pointsblue.com/rod-mari...llege-student-interned-cowboys-training-camp/
Cowboys defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli has something in common with the student volunteers and interns at training camp: his first exposure to an NFL camp took place on a Cowboys practice field in California. Just twenty miles southbound on Hwy 101 from Oxnard is Thousand Oaks and the California Lutheran University campus where the Cowboys held camp from 1963-1988.
Marinelli is a proud graduate of CLU where he joined the football team after serving our country during a tour of duty in Vietnam. He starred as an All-American offensive tackle and team captain on CLU’s 1971 NAIA national championship team. During the summer he volunteered at Cowboys Training Camp and found himself gravitating towards the coaches more than the pro players.
The strong impressions made by legendary Cowboys coaches more than 40 years ago still resonate with him today.
“When we were seniors, the captains had the chance to be gofers at camp, do odd jobs, whatever the coaches needed us to do,” Marinelli recalls. “You just had a chance to watch and learn. And I was learning more from the coaches than the players. My mind was already focused in that direction. There were really good coaches like Ernie Stautner and Coach Landry. I mean, wow! They were unbelievable.”
“I worked with Alvin Roy, the strength coach. I put the weights on and he told me to watch the numbers. I would try to get over to the offensive and defensive line coaches and pick up the cones, whatever they needed me to do. I was watching these guys coach every day and that was the fun part about it.”
And what about his interactions with the players?
“We didn’t get to practice alongside the players on the field, but what stands out in my mind is how lean they all were,” says Marinelli. “They were so tall and lean, not a fat guy in the bunch. That’s my recollection of the players.”
Marinelli also had off-the-field training camp duties.
“We were driving guys back-and-forth to the airport, the guys who got cut from the team,” he says. “But you were around it, part of the environment of a professional camp so you saw everything, good and bad, including players getting cut.”
Marinelli graduated from Cal Lutheran in 1972 and got his first coaching job as an assistant at his alma mater, Rosemead High School, in his hometown of Rosemead, California which is just east of Los Angeles, about 70 miles from Oxnard. These days, the Rosemead Panthers play their games on a field proudly named for their famous alumnus, Rod Marinelli Field.
Working his way up the coaching ladder, Marinelli made the leap from high school to college football in 1976 at Utah State as the defensive line coach. It was the first of 20 years of coaching in the college ranks with additional stints at Cal, Arizona State, and Southern California. He broke into the NFL ranks with Tampa Bay in 1996.
But it all started on the Cowboys practice fields in Thousand Oaks.
“My first experience with professional football was about class and that’s always stayed with me,” Marinelli reflects. “It was how they worked and how they did business.”
The Cowboys’ upcoming 2016 preseason opener on Saturday night against the Rams at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum is also exciting for Marinelli. Rosemead is only 15 miles from The Coliseum, so when he was in high school, Marinelli used to hitchhike to the stadium to see pro football.
“Oh, for me growing up, it was the best,” Marinelli says of the stadium. “I played there in a high school All Star game. I grew up in the shadows of The Coliseum and the USC campus so it was always big for me, especially when the Rams used to play there.”
“Do you know Chuy & Scibelli (Rams guards Don Chuy & Joe Scibelli)? They were my idols growing up. It was supposed to be Chuy, Scibelli and Marinelli (Rod played offensive tackle in high school and college). The Coliseum was also the site of the 1932 Summer Olympics when they had a football game there. I think the Olympic swimming pool is still there outside the stadium.”
“The NFL also played the Pro Bowl there at The Coliseum. I hitchhiked to the Pro Bowl. Back then hitchhiking was no big deal. That was great. At one time, the Rams, USC and UCLA all played at The Coliseum. So it has great history. And if you walk across the street you’re on the USC campus. I coached there (1995). If you get a chance, walk the campus because you’ll enjoy it. I can’t wait to go back for the game this weekend.”
