John Marinelli is in his first season as senior analyst at Illinois in 2021. He will work directly with Bielema on special projects including analytics and situational strategy development.

He comes to Champaign from Arizona, where he spent the 2019 and 2020 seasons as an analyst.

Marinelli started his coaching career in the high school ranks, where he won multiple state titles in Connecticut. He was a two-time state champion player, then assistant coach, under his father Lou Marinelli at New Canaan before taking over as head coach at Greenwich. Marinelli’s Greenwich teams went 36-10 in four seasons, including a 13-0 season in 2018 that ended in a 34-0 state title victory over New Canaan for the Class LL championship. He was awarded the 2018 USA TODAY Connecticut Coach of the Year.

Marinelli started his collegiate playing career at Fordham before transferring to Trinity (Conn.). He was a three-year starter and two-time all-conference selection for Trinity, leading the team to a 2008 conference title.

Marinelli and his wife Anna had their first child, Luke, in April 2021.

Coaching Career