Phil Marion (Felix "Phil" Marion) was a high school football coach and educator as well as an accomplished collegiate player at Fordham University. Mr. Marion played at Fordham from 1933-1936. He was a lineman and played with the famed The Seven Blocks of Granite. While Mr. Marion has the bona fides on his side, he isn't widely known to be aligned with that fabled offensive line.
Coach Marion graduated from Eddystone High School and went on to Fordham. He returned to his home locale and began to coach at Ridley Senior High School in Folsom, Pennsylvania. There he coached from 1943-1972 and amassing an 80% win percentage with a record of 223-59-13 with 10 championships and no losing records in those 3 decades.
Coach Marion set high expectations at RSH and his successes created what was known as the "Green Mystique" in the surrounding Delaware County (DELCO) and beyond. The Green Raiders continued that tradition in the seasons that followed and still do to this day. They are ranked highly in - win percentage {0.776}- in the state of Pennsylvania (No.1@719-199-23) as well as Nationally (No 10). Mr. Marion died in fall of 1973 after a bout with cancer.
A committee created an LP album- "Phil Marion: Molder of Men" to commemorate his life and exceptionalism. The B side of the album was Vince Lombardi's Last speech. The new locker room at Ridley High School has a commemorative tribute collection assembled in Coach Marions memory.
Mr. Marion has been inducted to the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame ; the Delaware County Athletes Hall of Fame; Ridley Old Timers Association;
Coach Marion was succeeded at the helm of Ridley Football by long time assistant Joe McNicholas who went on to amass a equally impressive record of 226-28-3 in his tenure.
