First-year Sacred Heart head coach C.J. Marottolo has guided the Pioneers to a 3-4-1 overall mark and a 2-1-1 record in league play.

Sacred Heart University hired former Yale assistant coach C.J. Marottolo on Oct. 9, right as the college hockey season was starting. Marottolo replaces Shaun Hannah, who resigned in September for family reasons, and becomes the newest head coach in Atlantic Hockey.

Marottolo, 43, played for Choate Rosemary Hall and four years at Northeastern. He was a player-coach in France for two years before retiring. John Dunham offered Marottolo a graduate assistant coaching job at Trinity College in 1992 and he’s been in the coaching business ever since.

Marottolo was enthralled with the Sacred Heart campus and the employees in the athletic department from the first. “Now that I’ve gotten the job, my instincts are right,” he said. “It’s a great place and I am loving every minute of it.”

The Pioneers have gotten off to a 3-4-1 start, including a 2-2-1 mark in Atlantic Hockey.

Inside College Hockey interviewed Marottolo this week and got his thoughts on the new job and the challenges of taking over a program so close to the start of the season.

INCH: Why did you apply for this job?

Marottolo: There are so few jobs and so many great candidates. There’s a lot of people out there that are assistant coaches who would be wonderful head coaches. It’s so difficult to get these head coaching jobs.

The home run part of the whole equation for me was a head coaching job where I didn’t have to move my family at this late a date. My family is very important to me.

INCH: Were you worried about not being able to get a Division I head coaching job?

Marottolo: You never know what’s in store for you. It was wonderful at Yale. I wasn’t getting discouraged because I loved my job at Yale, I loved the people there and I loved the kids. I grew up watching Yale hockey, I played Yale youth hockey. It was great for me to be able to work at Yale. I spent most of my life at Yale, from a young kid until I left Yale this year. Working at Yale was a dream job, so, no, I was happy at Yale but when a head coaching job came up and I didn’t have to move, you couldn’t ask for anything better.

INCH: You took over a team right as the new season was beginning. How difficult was that?

Marottolo: It’s been a whirlwind. The team had already played an exhibition game and had been practicing. I was on the ice with the team one week prior to us going to RPI and Union. It’s been great. The guys have been working extremely hard on and off the ice. I really like the kids on this team.

INCH: You had a week or so to have all your contract and school paperwork finalized. What did you do in the meantime?

Marottolo: I couldn’t go on the ice with the team until that Monday before we played RPI and Union. I had a week where I was with the team but I couldn’t go on the ice for practice because I had to go through my background check and drug test and for insurance purposes—I hadn’t signed the contract yet. I was running practice from the bench and not going on the ice. It was a unique perspective because I got to sit back and watch. The assistant coaches were kind of doing things on the ice, so I got to evaluate the guys for a week without having to be on the ice with them. I learned a lot. I didn’t pick up their names until the St. Lawrence weekend.

INCH: So how did you address the players?

Marottolo: I was thinking of putting names on the back of helmets so during the game I would know who was who because I didn’t know the numbers. There was a lot of, ‘Hey, 25, get out there.’ The guys got a kick out of it.

INCH: What were the first things you wanted to accomplish with the team?

Marottolo: Shaun Hannah did a great job with that program. Sacred Heart is an emerging school in a lot of ways. The first thing I wanted to do in my first team meeting was telling them about myself and what I demand as a coach. I explained to them I want everybody, first and foremost, on this team to have an incredible work ethic and I want you to love to come to the rink with a smile on your face and eager to go. Everything after that will fall into place. I think we’ve accomplished that.

A lot has to be attributed to the senior group, who have done a tremendous job of setting the tone prior to me getting the job. We talked about a lot of things as a team and our goals, right now, will stay within our locker room.

INCH: What is possible with this team?

Marottolo: I think everything is possible. We’re very excited about how the team is evolving. It’s still a learning curve.

INCH: How do you like being a head coach, where all the responsibility is yours?

Marottolo: It’s great. Part of being the head guy is having good support people. (Assistant coach) Lou Santini, who stayed after the coaching change, has been terrific. He told me this is what we should be doing and what we shouldn’t be doing. He has been a great sounding board for me. Don Cook, the athletic director, has been unbelievable.

INCH: Did you get a lot of well wishes for your new job?

Marottolo: I’ve got hundreds of text messages. I have gotten notes. … The hockey coaching community is terrific, for them to take time out of their day to think about somebody else.

INCH: Who are your hockey influences?

Marottolo: A great influence was (former Yale head coach) Tim Taylor, and not just in hockey. It was about how he treated people and treated players as people, how he treated parents and recruits in the process. I learned a lot about integrity—it’s so important in this business. Keith Allain, I have taken a lot from. He is a wonderful new coach at Yale who has done an outstanding job. A big person in my life who I learned a lot from is my father (Carl). He was a youth hockey coach and I take a lot of things from him. He was one of the founding fathers of the Yale youth hockey program and ran the Yale clinic for a long time.

INCH: What is your favorite NHL team?

Marottolo: My favorite team would the Rangers.

INCH: Aside from the obvious of winning a championship, what do you want to accomplish as a head coach?

Marottolo: I want the young men who choose to come to Sacred Heart to leave Sacred Heart with a wonderful hockey experience. I want them to come into Sacred Heart as boys and have them leave as men, and have them understand about integrity and dignity and know how to treat people. I want them to do the right thing when no one is watching. I want them to understand it’s important for them to be good people. I want them to be good husbands, good friends, and good fathers. That would make me feel like I have done a good job as a coach.