Marty Schaetzle begins his 20th season at the helm of the Mercyhurst football program. Over his first 18 seasons, Schaetzle has guided the Lakers to a 93-105 overall record and a 62-84 mark in conference play. Since Mercyhurst joined the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) in 2008, which ended a 13-year affiliation with the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC), Schaetzle and the Lakers have gone 72-62 overall and 44-44 against PSAC West foes.
The 2019 Lakers finished the season strong winning three straight to close the year securing a winning season.
After an 0-4 start to the 2014 season, Mercyhurst won seven straight games to close this season with a 7-4 overall record and a 6-3 mark in the PSAC West. The Lakers had the best record against PSAC West foes, posting a 6-1 mark, but crossover games counted in the league standings the 6-3 mark was not good enough to play for the PSAC Championship. However, for his efforts, Schaetzle earned the PSAC West Coach of the Year Award for the third time since the program joined the conference in 2008. He also was named the ECAC Division II Coach of the Year for the first time.
After a slow start to the 2013 season, Mercyhurst won six of its final seven games to finish with a 7-4 overall record and a 4-3 mark in the PSAC West. After finishing 9-2 in 2012, Schaetzle became the first coach at Mercyhurst, since Jim Chapman in 1991 and 1992, to lead the Lakers to back-to-back winning seasons. Schaetzle’s two-year stretch (2012 and 2013) of 16-6 was the best mark by a Laker coach since the program’s inaugural boss, Tony DeMeo, led Mercyhurst to a 16-3 overall mark during the 1984 and 1985 campaigns.
In 2012, Mercyhurst claimed a share of the PSAC Western Division crown for the second time in three seasons, finishing with a 9-2 overall record and a 6-1 mark in the PSAC West. Mercyhurst, however, did not have a chance to play for their second PSAC Championship in three seasons due to a head-to-head loss against Indiana (Pa.) last October. IUP, in fact, claimed the PSAC title.
Mercyhurst won the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division II Team of the Year award in 2012 - the second time in three seasons that Mercyhurst claimed the honor.
Since joining the PSAC in 2008, Schaetzle has seen a number of his athletes earn major postseason honors from the conference. Trevor Kennedy earned back-to-back Offensive Player of the Year honors in 2010 and 2011 while Richie Sanders and Brandon Brown-Dukes earned Freshman of the Year honors in consecutive seasons - 2011 and 2012 respectively. Bryan Boyce earned the Defensive Player of the Year award in 2010 and Ian Wild claimed the Pete Nevins PSAC Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors during the 2010-11 academic year.
In, 2010 the Lakers accumulated the most victories in program history (10), claimed their first-ever conference championship with a 56-37 win over Bloomsburg, earned their first-ever NCAA postseason tournament berth, and claimed their first-ever NCAA tournament win with a 28-14 victory over Bloomsburg. The season ended with a setback to #18 Shepherd in the NCAA Quarterfinals at Tullio Field in early December.
Schaetzle surpassed Joe Kimball as the longest tenured football coach in program history and his 87 wins are the most ever by a Mercyhurst football coach. Schaetzle broke a victories’ tie with Kimball and Tony DeMeo, the program’s first-ever coach, by capturing win #42 with a 28-14 win over Bloomsburg in the NCAA playoffs on Nov. 27, 2010. For his efforts in 2010, Schaetzle was named PSAC Coach of the Year, Don Hansen Football Gazette co-Coach of the Year, and was a top five finalist for the Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year. His 2010 squad was also named the Division II Lambert Meadowlands Team of the Year.
His teams have also excelled in the classroom. Schaetzle has coached 11 Academic All-Americans and 15 Academic All-District honorees. The program also won the PSAC Team GPA Award for the second time in three seasons for having the highest team cumulative grade point average in the conference.
Schaetzle came to Mercyhurst from Division I-AA Bucknell in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, where he worked as an assistant for five seasons. He began his Bucknell tenure by focusing on the tight ends and tackles before being promoted to offensive coordinator in 1999.
His first season at the helm of the Bucknell offense was a huge success. The Bison piled up 320 points, the third highest scoring season in school history, and produced the best ground attack in 19 years. The running game averaged 196.6 yards per contest, the most since the 1980 team averaged 216.9. During his tenure, his linemen earned All-Patriot League honors seven times.
As an offensive lineman, Schaetzle was Bucknell’s team captain in 1982 and graduated from there in 1983. He won the George Rieu Award as the Bison’s outstanding lineman in 1981 and 1982. He also won the 1983 Edward Pangburn Award, given to a senior athlete for “sportsmanship, fellowship, and contribution to the university.” Schaetzle played high school football at St. Francis Prep for Vinny O’Connor. He is a member of the American Football Coaches Association and also serves on a professional development committee.
Schaetzle is married to Jean Ann and the couple has two sons, Thurman and Griffin, and two daughters, Courdell and Kendal.
Schaetzle's Record At Mercyhurst
|
Overall
|
|
GLIAC
|
| Year |
W |
L |
|
W |
L |
| 2002 |
2 |
9 |
|
1 |
9 |
| 2003 |
5 |
6 |
|
4 |
6 |
| 2004 |
4 |
7 |
|
4 |
6 |
| 2005 |
3 |
7* |
|
3 |
7* |
| 2006 |
3 |
7 |
|
3 |
7 |
| 2007 |
4 |
7 |
|
3 |
7 |
Lakers end 13-Yr GLIAC affiliation
|
Overall
|
|
PSAC
|
| Year |
W |
L |
|
W |
L |
Lakers begin play in PSAC |
| 2008 |
7 |
4 |
|
5 |
2 |
| 2009 |
4 |
7 |
|
3 |
4 |
| 2010 |
10 |
3 |
|
6 |
1 |
| 2011 |
4 |
7 |
|
2 |
5 |
| 2012 |
9 |
2 |
|
6 |
1 |
| 2013 |
7 |
4 |
|
4 |
3 |
| 2014 |
7 |
4 |
|
6 |
3 |
| 2015 |
5 |
6 |
|
2 |
5 |
| 2016 |
3 |
8 |
|
1 |
6 |
| 2017 |
5 |
6 |
|
3 |
4 |
| 2018 |
5 |
6 |
|
3 |
4 |
| 2019 |
6 |
5 |
|
3 |
4 |
| 2020 |
0 |
0 |
|
0 |
0 |
| Career |
93 |
105 |
|
62 |
84 |
| * Saginaw Valley State forfeited a win in the 2005 season |
