Defensive Coordinator Richie Marsh enters his fourth season with the Fire football team.

During its first year of competition in 2014, Southeastern was second in The Sun Conference in scoring defense, allowing 21.3 points per game.

Marsh came to Southeastern after serving as the head football coach at Thomasville High School in Georgia, since 2005. Marsh led Thomasville to seven Georgia High School Athletic Association playoff appearances and was named the Region Coach of the Year in 2007.

Coach Marsh’s pedigree and ties to Polk County run deep as he was a three year letterman at Bartow Senior High School where he played for the late Paul Quinn, who was at the time the winningest football coach in the state of Florida. Marsh was a starting linebacker on Bartow’s 1986 team which won the State Championship.

After high school, Marsh continued his football career at Ferrum College where he played three years under legendary coach Hank Norton, who at the time was the winningest active coach in NCAA Division III.

After his playing days were over, Marsh returned to Florida to begin his coaching career at Frostproof High School in 1992. Marsh was on staff with the 1992 State Championship team as a linebackers coach. After that season, legendary Frostproof Head Coach Farris Brannnen decided to retire and handpicked Marsh as his successor; a position Marsh held until 1999.

Marsh returned home to Bartow in 1999 where he served as the Head Football Coach and Dean of Students from 1999-2003. Marsh was named The Ledger’s Polk County Coach of the Year in 2001.

Marsh earned a bachelor’s degree in liberal studies from Ferrum College in 1991 and his master’s degree from The University of South Florida-Lakeland in educational leadership in 2004. He and Jennifer have five children.