MMA Head Coach Calvin Powell talks to his team during the Mariners’ long-awaited home game against Hartwick on September 7. Powell, who came to Maine from Texas, was drawn to the academy because of the opportunity to rebuild the football program, but resigned just halfway through the season. BY MERIDEN PHOTOGRAPHY STUDIO
CASTINE—The two top football coaches at Maine Maritime Academy’s rekindled football program have resigned halfway through the season and just days away from a home game in Castine.
Head coach Calvin Powell and assistant coach Dan McKenna have resigned, leaving the football program that had been dormant since 2020. It was rebooted in 2023, with the help of more than half a million dollars in donations from more than 150 donors.
Academy spokesperson Kate Noel declined to discuss the details of the resignations.
“That’s a personnel issue,” she said, adding, “The coaches decided ‘it is not the right place for me’ at this time.”
“The school absolutely stands behind the program, the players and alumni,” Noel added. “With the growth of any program, you’ll encounter periods of change. That’s what you’re witnessing now.”
In an October 3 email to students, faculty and staff, MMA interim president Craig Johnson called the rekindling of the football program a “fluid process.”
“Coach Powell has worked tirelessly to build a program and roster from infancy. We are grateful to him for his hard work and his recruiting efforts. The remainder of the MMA Football Coaching staff is well positioned to continue strengthening our players and team unity as we finish out the second season, and I am proud of their work and dedication.”
Johnson also announced that Bill Mottola, Company Officer for the Regiment of Midshipman who has more than 30 years of experience coaching football at high school and collegiate levels, has been named the team’s new head coach.
Mottola coached the offensive line for Kent State University and Miami (Ohio) University and the offensive line coach at the United States Military Academy West Point. He also held various coaching positions at Western Kentucky University, including offensive coordinator, offensive line and tight ends coach, among other positions at other schools.
The sudden departures of the two coaches come as MMA marks a five-year journey that has returned the school to the gridiron.
On November 16, 2019, at MMA’s Ritchie Field, the academy’s football team lost their final game of the year to Catholic University 28-13.
Just nine months later, they then lost their entire program when the school announced that it would be suspending the football program indefinitely while the administration reviewed the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic was placing on the college.
Then, in the fall of 2022, MMA Athletic Director Steve Peed announced that the school had been offered a football spot in a New England athletic conference in 2025, and fundraising efforts were underway to help reboot the program.
Three months later, MMA had received $566,778 in gifts from 155 donors, allowing the program to move forward.
In early 2023, Powell was named head coach of the program. Powell’s credentials— 15 years of coaching experience, including being part of a successful startup program at Texas Wesleyan University—coupled with a proven track record of elevating his student-athletes’ GPAs, made him the seemingly perfect fit for the position.
“We got our guy,” said then-president Jerry Paul when Powell’s hiring was announced.
Powell and McKenna are the latest two high-profile staff to resign from MMA. Paul, the former president, resigned abruptly in May after just two years at the helm, citing family reasons. The academy’s commandant, Capt. Mark Winter, announced his resignation in September to take a defense lobbying job.
Last week, Johnson sought to reassure the MMA community that football will continue.
“Rest assured that we will continue to grow and recruit for Football and are committed to ensuring that our players and coaches are supported and in an environment where they can continue to practice and play the sport they love,” Johnson wrote in his October 3 email to staff and faculty.
Football’s return to Castine has been met enthusiastically by fans. More than 1,500 were in attendance at Ritchie Field in their first home game this season on September 7 against Hartwick College—a far cry from the 283 who witnessed that final game back in 2019. Though the Mariners fell 62-6, the program’s return had reignited a fanbase.
“The score was totally irrelevant to me,” Peed said in an interview with the Patriot prior to the announcement that the program’s two top coaches had resigned. “The stands filled with people, seeing people up on Pleasant Street, in the parking lot and in the end zone, having the 1993 team here celebrating their ECAC championship—all of that was overwhelming in a positive and healthy way. Like it was, OK, we’re back now.”
Just days prior to his resignation, Powell had told the Patriot the program was anchored in three key values: “Prepare, improve, persevere.”
“‘Win’ is not in those,” Powell continued. “I’m asking you to come out prepared, have a mindset to improve every single day, and then persevere through the selfishness of instant gratification. I tell guys that if I could pull up to the drive-through window and order ten pounds of muscle and seven wins, I would. But that’s not how this works. We have to lay that groundwork to have the opportunity to go out and compete.”
The Mariners will face the JV squad from Husson University at a home game on October 20. The game starts at 1 p.m. at Ritchie Field in Castine.
—With additional reporting from Erik Atwell
