Marist Red Foxes football The Marist Red Foxes football program is the intercollegiate American football team for Marist College located in the U . S . state of New York . The team competes in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision ( FCS ) and are members of the Pioneer Football League . Marist ' s first football team was fielded in 1978 . The team plays its home games at the 5 , 000 seat Leonidoff Field in Poughkeepsie , New York . The Red Foxes are coached by Jim Parady . History . Marist College Football traces its roots back to 1965 , when the first team , then a club , posted a 3 - 3 record under coach Ron Levine . The program would soon become one of the most powerful club programs in the country advancing to two National Title Games ( 1970 and 1972 ) while competing in the Eastern Collegiate Club Football League . After 13 seasons of numerous All - America selections and conference crowns , the program was elevated to varsity status in 1978 at the Division III level . The first varsity win was a 14 - 9 decision over Manhattan College in 1978 . The Red Foxes played at the Division III level for the next 15 years , as members of the Metropolitan Conference , the ACFC , and the Liberty Conference . Mike Malet was the first coach of the varsity Red Foxes , holding that position from 1978 - 88 . In 1993 football moved up to Division I - AA and in 1994 became the first Marist athletic team to become a member of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference . The Red Foxes broke into the national spotlight in 1997 by setting national records . The Marist defense set a pair of I - AA records in the fall of 1997 , breaking the opponent rushing yards per game and fewest yards allowed per rush marks , that had been held by Florida A & M University . The Red Foxes allowed just 39 . 8 rush yards a game , eclipsing the 1978 record of 45 . 4 yards per game . The stingy Marist defense also allowed just 1 . 2 yards per rush , which snapped the Rattlers 1984 national record of 1 . 3 yards a carry . The 1998 campaign saw Marist again ranking among the best in the nation defensively . The Red Foxes ranked second in the nation in pass efficiency at 78 . 3 , and total defense , allowing just 219 . 6 yards per game . Marist also ranked third in the nation in rushing defense at 73 . 8 yards per game , and was the sixth - best in the country in points allowed , giving up just 12 . 9 a game . The offense was not to be outdone that season , rewriting 15 school records , six on the legs of the school ' s all - time single - season touchdown leader ( 21 ) , the late J . J . Allen . During 2000 Marist won its 100th game in its 23rd year of varsity competition in a 34 - 31 win over Wagner College . Marist had a then - program - record 11 athletes named to the All - MAAC teams at the end of the season , and had seven players named All - America recognition from the Football Gazette . It was the Red Foxes ' seventh straight winning season . The team moved into its beautiful new home , Tenney Stadium , in 2007 and played its first game there on Oct . 6 against Duquesne . In 2008 after the MAAC football conference disbanded the team joined the Pioneer Football League . In their first season as a member of the Pioneer Football League ( 2008 ) , Marist tied a program record with seven victories , and set a program record with a six - game winning streak . They finished the season 7 - 4 . In 2010 the Red Foxes set a single - season program record with 2 , 950 yards through the air . Quarterback Tommy Reilly set the program ' s single - game and single - season records for completions , attempts and passing yards . Notable former players . Notable alumni include :