Allegheny College Athletics

A punishing center, John Marzka was a key cog in Gator football’s rise to national prominence.

John was a three-year letterwinner for the Gators, and became a full-time starter as a junior in 1989.  He quickly became a standout, being named First Team All-North Coast Athletic Conference, while also earning All-America honors from the Football Gazette.

In 1990, John and the Gators had a season to remember.  Named team co-captain alongside fellow 2015 Hall of Fame inductee David LaCarte, John helped lead the Gators to unprecedented heights.  After posting a 9-0-1 record during the regular season, Allegheny went on a magical run, capped off with winning the NCAA Division III National Championship with a dramatic 21-14 overtime victory against Lycoming.  As a leader of a prolific offense, John was one of seven Gator offensive players named All-NCAC, as he earned First Team honors for a second consecutive season. The awards didn’t stop there, as he was recognized as an All-American by both the Football Gazette and CoSIDA (College Sports Information Directors of America), while also receiving Allegheny’s Clair Jackson Award, given to the team’s most outstanding lineman.

A native of Erie, Pennsylvania, John pursued a career in coaching immediately after graduating from Allegheny with a degree in psychology.  He served as both the offensive and defensive line coach at Erie Academy, before returning to Allegheny to spend seven years on the coaching staff.  After stints at Fordham and Thiel, John was named head coach at Albright College in Reading, Pennsylvania in 2007, and quickly became the most successful head coach in program history. In his first eight years, Albright has accumulated a record of 59-30, earning seven trips to the postseason, highlighted by a 2009 campaign in which they advanced to the NCAA quartefinals, and were ranked 9th by the AFCA.

John currently resides in Sinking Spring, Pennsylvania, and is the father of one son, Riley, who attends the University of Pittsburgh.