Dave Marquis enters his first season as head football coach at Otterbein in 2025. He was named the 36th head coach in the program's 134-year history on Dec. 19, 2024.
Marquis came to Otterbein from NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision member Valparaiso University, where he had served as defensive coordinator since 2023.
His other Division I coaching stops included the University of Dayton (2017-18, linebackers coach/recruiting coordinator; 2011-12, defensive line coach) and Kent State University (2008-10, defensive graduate assistant), and he has coached at the Division III level at Wittenberg University (2016 and 2019-22, defensive coordinator; 2015, linebackers coach/special teams coordinator) and Randolph-Macon College (2013-14, linebackers coach/special teams coordinator; 2006-2007 tight ends coach).
Throughout his career, Marquis demonstrated a history of leading staunch defenses, as NCAA D-I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) Kent State ranked 10th nationally in total defense in 2010, NCAA D-III Wittenberg ranked 19th in 2019, and NCAA D-I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) Valparaiso ranked 20th in 2023, while NCAA D-I FCS Dayton ranked 24th nationally in scoring defense in 2017.
In 2024, five members of the Valparaiso defense earned All-Pioneer Football League recognition, including three Second Team honors. The Beacons accounted for three of the eight All-PFL First and Second Team defensive linemen in the 11-team league.
During the 2023 campaign, Marquis' defense ranked second in the PFL and 50th nationally in the FCS in points allowed per game (24.8), second in the PFL and 22nd nationally in yards allowed per game (318.5) and first in the PFL and 28th nationally in rushing yards allowed per game (123.3).
The 2023 Beacons boasted the team's best total defense and scoring defense in a traditional fall season since 2000 and achieved its best rushing defense in a fall season since 2007. Linebacker Evan Annis was named the PFL Scholar-Athlete of the Year, becoming the first Valpo player to earn that award, and was one of five members of the defense to earn All-PFL honors.
During his time as the defensive coordinator at Wittenberg in Springfield, Ohio, Marquis helped lead the Tigers to two North Coast Athletic Conference championships (2016 and 2019), advancing to the second round of the NCAA Division III Playoffs in 2016. While Marquis was on staff at Randolph-Macon, the Yellow Jackets saw the biggest year-over-year improvement in the NCAA, going from 2-8 in 2006 to 8-2 in 2007.
Born in Mount Vernon, Ohio, Marquis graduated from Chartiers Valley High School in Bridgeville, Pa., just outside of Pittsburgh. He went on to attend Kent State University, earning a bachelor's degree in education in 2006 and a master's degree in sport and recreation management in 2010.
