Andy Guyon is the new head coach of the football team for Xavier High School, taking the place of Sean Marinan, who resigned as head coach and Social Studies teacher at Xavier on November 28.

Andy Guyon is not a new face at Xavier. He was the defensive coordinator on Coach Marinan’s football staff since 2009, winning assistant coach of the year after Xavier’s state championship win in 2011. Prior to that, Coach Guyon was the head coach for Sheehan High School in Wallingford in the early 2000s, and before that he had coached college football at Sacred Heart University as a defensive assistant.

I had the opportunity to sit down with Mr. Anthony Jaskot, head of the athletic department, and Coach Guyon to discuss why Mr. Marinan decided to leave Xavier, what Mr. Marinan did for the school, and how Coach Guyon plans to take up the mantle and continue the legacy of his long-time colleague and friend.

Mr. Jaskot

The events surrounding the resignation of Mr. Marinan have been in question since news broke weeks ago, with some rumors suggesting Marinan was pressured by Xavier’s administration to relinquish his roles at the school. When asked why Marinan resigned, Mr. Jaskot said “resigning was on Mr. Marinan’s mind for more than just the beginning of this season. [It’s been on his mind] for years.” He added that, as coach, Marinan had done “absolutely everything at Xavier you could possibly do” and that he “wants to further challenge himself,” citing Marinan’s desire to coach college football as a motivator for his resignation.

When asked to describe what Mr. Marinan did for Xavier’s football program, Mr. Jaskot said Mr. Marinan was a “legendary” coach. “[Coach Marinan] spent every waking hour doing so much for the kids that play in his program. He opened the weight room basically when the season ended, through the rest of the school year, and throughout the summer. If you go in the locker room when progress reports or report cards come out, there was a line of football players waiting by his door. He’d go in, read the riot act when they’re doing poorly, and try to work with the teachers and Mr. Cerreta for the young men in his program who got out of line. He would, in a sense, pastoral counsel his players to turn their behavior around.”

Mr. Jaskot said he thought it would be “almost impossible” to find another person who could replace Coach Marinan. As the replacement process went on, however, Mr. Jaskot said he soon remembered that there’s “nothing impossible for the football program at Xavier High School.” After narrowing the roster to “three gentlemen” already familiar with Xavier, Mr. Jaskot said “it was a unanimous decision, after we interviewed Coach Guyon, that we had the perfect person to fill the shoes of Coach Marinan. Even the ones that were qualified [to be head coach] were pushing for him…because of Coach Guyon’s experience.”

Coach Guyon

Shortly after the announcement that revealed Andy Guyon as the successor of Sean Marinan, I was able to ask Coach Andy Guyon some questions regarding his aspirations for the football program under his watch and what he will do as head coach.

Starting off, Coach Guyon said he is “really excited for the opportunity” to be Xavier’s new head coach, and that under his guidance the football team is “going to do a lot of great things.” As head coach, he said he will continue to be the defensive coordinator, which was his position as part of Mr. Marinan’s staff, but now he will also focus on “culture, motivation, the way the program operates, and the organizational ‘stuff’” with Coach Jaskot. He emphasized how he and Coach Jaskot are going to “really focus on culture and leadership” and “what we want our players, our student-athletes, our young men to become.”

On a final note, I asked Coach Guyon how he plans to fill the shoes of Coach Marinan. His response is as follows: “Sean’s one of my best friends. You don’t replace him. I’m not going to replace him; I’m not going to try to fill his shoes. While respecting and honoring everything he did, which is hall of fame worthy, I’m going to do my own thing; make sure it’s my stamp on the program but at the same time honoring the past of not just what Sean did but what other coaches have done.

I’m going make sure we are representing the community, the players, the program in a positive light and make sure we are a positive force for what goes on here.”