A lasting legacy: Colfax names stadium after beloved coach Tony Martello

For more than a quarter-century, Tony Martello was the steady hand guiding Colfax High School football. Martello's influence stretched far beyond the field, shaping the lives of players, fellow coaches and a tight-knit community. Before Friday night's 48-36 homecoming victory over Center, Martello's legacy was permanently etched into Falcon history as Colfax renamed its football stadium after the winningest coach in Placer County history. The idea to name the field after Martello began to take shape years ago, according to Martello's longtime friend and former Auburn Journal and Colfax Record sports reporter Mike Ray, who along with others began looking for a way to recognize the coach's decades of dedication. The stadium had long been known as Robert O. Marson Field, named in 1968 after Colfax's former mayor, who was instrumental in the school's development. Marson passed away earlier that summer. "I was on the football team at Colfax in 1968 when they dedicated Robert O. Marson Field," Ray said. "Robert was a community leader, the mayor of the town, and played a big role in Colfax High being built." Before the new dedication could move forward, Ray reached out to Marson's family to make sure they supported the dual naming of the facility as Robert O. Marson Field at Tony Martello Stadium. After receiving the family's blessing, it was set to name the stadium after Martello once the installation of the new turf playing surface was completed. For many of his former players, honoring Martello is about far more than wins and losses. A 1982 Colfax graduate himself, Martello played defensive line for legendary coach George Massick and captained the Falcons before returning to coach in the 1990s. After spending time as a graduate assistant under Hall of Fame coach Chris Ault at Nevada and several years coaching the junior varsity team, Martello took over the varsity program in 1996. His first season began with four straight losses before the Falcons stormed back to tie for the league championship, marking the start of a run that would define small-school football excellence in Northern California. During his 26-year tenure, Martello built Colfax into one of the region's premier small-school football programs. He amassed 230 career victories, 37 playoff wins and 16 league championships while leading the Falcons to 23 postseason appearances and 10 Sac-Joaquin Section finals. Martello guided Colfax to four section titles and a CIF State Bowl appearance in 2018, earning 12 Cal-Hi Sports Top 10 state rankings along the way. Martello's influence extended through generations. He sent players into coaching careers of their own, including former quarterback Alex Rump, who's coached championship teams in Humboldt County; Chris Bean, who now leads reigning NorCal-champion Twelve Bridges alongside fellow Colfax grad Grant Fowler, and Arizona State offensive coordinator Marcus Arroyo. "This is the most unbelievably deserved naming of a field that I've ever seen," said Bean. "Tony has made a huge impact on me as a coach. I still use things that he taught me as a quarterback all the way back when I was a sophomore. He was so far ahead of the game." When Bean earned his first varsity head coaching job at Lincoln, his first visit was to Martello, who offered him words of encouragement and advice. "He opened up his office and we talked football for hours. He has always been there for me," said Bean. "I couldn't thank him enough for everything he's done for me." "I appreciate his leadership. He showed me what it is to be a man. He showed me discipline. He showed me hard work and he called it the Colfax way," said Fowler. "He deserves everything he got. He's worked incredibly hard and has a great mind for football. But more importantly, I would say, I think he's a great man. He's a great father and he's a great husband." Even after his retirement, Martello's fingerprints remain on the program's traditions and the next generation of players are still built to play the game the Colfax way. Several of Martello's former players returned to honor their former coach Friday night, but there were many that couldn't do so because they were following in his footsteps as coaches themselves.