POUGHKEEPSIE, New York – Marist University head football coach Mike Willis has announced multiple promotions, new assignments, and a new hire to his coaching staff.
 

• Vince DiMonte is being promoted to linebackers coach and operations coordinator.
• Kevin Mill is being promoted to recruiting coordinator, and he will continue to serve as defensive line coach.
• Roger Kotlarz is being promoted to co-special teams coordinator and cornerbacks coach.
• Mike Horan will continue to serve as defensive coordinator, and he will also coach the team's safeties.

 
"The best organizations I have been a part of rewarded great work already being done inside of that organization with increased responsibility," Willis said. "Each member of our staff recognized with a promotion has worked tirelessly here to better the experiences of everyone involved in Marist football. Our alumni, family, and friends, our staff, and most especially, our players. I am excited  to work with each of them today and going forward. Marist football is better because of the contributions of these outstanding coaches."
 
DiMonte is entering his third season on Willis' staff. He coached the Red Foxes' inside linebackers in the 2025 season, and he served as safeties coach in 2024.
 
Mill is in his second season with the program. He joined the staff last spring as defensive line coach.
 
Kotlarz joined the staff in the winter of 2025. He was the Red Foxes' assistant special teams coach and assistant defensive backs coach last year.
 
Horan is in his third season on staff, and he has been Marist's defensive coordinator since his arrival in Poughkeepsie in the winter of 2024. He also coached outside linebackers in 2025 and the defensive line in 2024.
 
Additionally, Kai Ellis has been hired as outside linebackers/edges coach.

Ellis most recently coached in the Canadian Football League. Ellis served as defensive line coach for the Ottawa Redblacks of the Canadian Football League during the 2025 season, and he helped analyze prospects for the 2025 CFL Draft.  Ellis comes to Marist with a wealth of coaching experience, which includes a recent five-season stint at Adams State University, where he served as assistant head coach and defensive coordinator. In his collegiate career at the University of Washington, Ellis was known as "The Creature." He went on to enjoy an eight-year professional career in the CFL.
 
At Marist, Ellis will assist DiMonte and Mill on the field while leading scouting efforts on the Red Foxes' opponents.
 
"I am fired up to add Kai Ellis to our staff," Willis said. "Kai's experience both as an outstanding player at the collegiate and professional levels, and his experiences throughout professional and collegiate football as a position coach and coordinator will immediately impact our recruiting efforts and our ability to develop players on and off the field. Marist football got better today!"
 
2026 Marist Football Coaching Staff
Head coach – Mike Willis
Defensive coordinator/safeties – Mike Horan
Offensive coordinator/quarterbacks – TJ Weyl
Special teams coordinator/running backs – John Audino
Defensive line/recruiting coordinator – Kevin Mill
Linebackers/operations coordinator – Vince DiMonte
Offensive line – John O'Connor
Co-special teams coordinator/cornerbacks – Roger Kotlarz
Wide receivers – Pierce Graham
Tight ends – Ayden Gutierrez
Outside linebackers/edges – Kai Ellis
Assistant offensive line – Bob Palombo
Offensive assistant – Diego Arroyo
Defensive assistant – Blake McLaughlin
Director of football operations & player personnel – Gino Cammilleri
 
Willis is heading into this third season leading the program. The program's annual Spring Game will take place on Saturday, April 25 at 4 p.m.