Cisco Recalled for Jefferson Greatness, Care for Kids & Staff Over Half-Century as Coach
By
Doug Donnelly
Special for MHSAA.com
October 1, 2026
Marc Cisco was a gruff old football coach who was intimidating and set in his ways.
Not really.
In fact, to those who knew him, Cisco was more like a teddy bear who had passions for good football, watching student-athletes play the game right and spending time with his close circle of friends.
Cisco died Sept. 24 in Grand Rapids at the age of 90, leaving a legacy on high school football in southeast Michigan. He was best known for coaching the Monroe Jefferson varsity football team for a remarkable 47 years. His teams won 241 games, including the 1994 Class B championship in the Pontiac Silverdome.
“It appeared he was this mean old guy. He might yell at you, but he would be the first one to pat you on the back and tell you good job,” said one of his former players, Jeff Potter. “He really cared about his kids and nurtured his players. He was mostly a big teddy bear.”
Cisco made a career in education as a teacher and coach. In addition to coaching the Jefferson football team for 47 years, he coached track & field for almost as many seasons.
His son, Zeke, played for his father and was the Jefferson quarterback. Later, Zeke was a walk-on at the University of Nebraska. When Zeke was away at college and would come home for a visit each May, he would volunteer to work at the Jefferson Invitational track meet because that’s where he would find his dad.
“He was just a coach,” Zeke said. “My childhood was all about sports. If I wanted to see him in the fall, I had to go to practice. If I want to hang around with him in the winter, he kept score at basketball games, so I would go to the basketball games. He kept the scoreboard during wrestling meets. I usually would sit under his legs, underneath the scorers’ table. I would hit him in the legs a lot because he would get bored and forget to add the score on.
“He was nestled in the fabric of the high school in every way, shape or form.”
Niles Kruger, sports editor at The Monroe News, said when Zeke was at Nebraska, Marc Cisco was usually one of the first coaches every Friday to call in his stats and scores because he would be jumping in a car to drive to watch his son play.
“He was one of my favorite postgame interviews because he was always the same, win or lose,” Kruger said. “He was quite a character and pretty good at cussing. He would always say afterwards, ‘Clean that up for me.’”
Cisco had a tremendous relationship with his assistant coaches. Several members of the Jefferson coaching staff were there for at least 40 of Cisco’s 47 years.
“His vacations, his fun things to do, were always with other coaches, their wives and their families,” Zeke Cisco said. “They would get together for card nights. They would go to Toledo Raceway (harness racing) Park. Pretty much every coach’s driveway, roof and deck were all built by the other coaches on the staff. They took care of each other.”
Cisco’s legacy includes an extended coaching tree filled with former players. Zeke has built a very successful program at Byron Center. Jason Gendron is the Gibraltar Carlson coach and in the middle of a tremendous run with the Marauders. Potter has coached at Ida for a decade and made that program a playoff regular.
“He was a big part of why I became a coach,” Potter said. “He was like a second family. My dad coached with him for 40 years. He was my Godfather. Our offense now is pretty much the same offense we ran in high school.”
Cisco had spent time in Florida after retiring but made his home in Reading near the Michigan-Indiana border the last few years.
“He would drive up to our games on Fridays,” Zeke said. “He would be in the parking lot at 3 o’clock.”
Marc had health issues over the last year, suffering from a stroke and congestive heart failure. He took a turn for the worse a little more than a week ago. He and his wife Donna, also a former coach at Jefferson, were together for more than 56 years. She survives.
Marc Cisco was a legend long before he started blowing the coaching whistle. Growing up in Morenci, he earned 16 varsity letters – four each in football, basketball, baseball and track – before graduating in 1954. The Bulldogs football team won 44 straight games during his career, and he made The Associated Press all-state team three times.
Larry Tuttle, the winningest baseball coach in Michigan high school history, was a student at Morenci when Cisco was a player.
“I never missed one of his games because my mom and dad would go to all of them,” he said. “Later on, we became good friends. He was such a great football player.”
Cisco played football at Michigan State University under head coach Duffy Daugherty and later at the University of Toledo.
He got his teaching start at Britton Macon High School in Lenawee County, before moving closer to the banks of Lake Erie and Jefferson in 1961.
It was 1963 when Cisco first coached Jefferson, leading the varsity to a 4-3 season – the first of three straight winning campaigns. The tide turned in 1966 when Jefferson went 0-6. The team won seven games over the next three seasons before Cisco stepped down.
He regained the job in 1973 and stayed until 2012. He was the Bears’ varsity coach 41 years in all. From the time his 1983 team went 9-0 until the mid-2000s, Jefferson was a model of consistency, producing winner after winner. The 1993 team went 10-1, the 1994 team 12-1, and the 1999 team 11-2. It was the 1994 Bears that won the Class B title.
Zeke Cisco said when his father retired, it was rather unceremonious. There was no big announcement or celebration, although the school had much earlier renamed the football and track stadium after him.
“He just sort of stepped away,” he said. “He would come up here and watch his grandsons play.”
Marc Cisco never took himself or his wins too seriously.
“You know, I used to always give him hell,” Zeke said. “I'd call him and go, oh, ‘It's the winningest coach Monroe County.’ He goes, ‘I'm also the losingest coach in Monroe County.’”
Doug Donnelly has served as a news and sports reporter at the Adrian Daily Telegram and the Monroe News for 30 years, including 10 years as city editor in Monroe. He's written a book on high school basketball in Monroe County and compiles record books for various schools in southeast Michigan. He is now publisher and editor of The Blissfield Advance, a weekly newspaper. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for Jackson, Washtenaw, Hillsdale, Lenawee and Monroe counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Marc Cisco coaches his Monroe Jefferson football team. (Middle) From left, John Castiglione, Cisco and Dave Potter monitor the action at the Silverdome during their team’s 1994 Class B Final. (Below) Cisco, while starring at Morenci. (Jefferson photos courtesy of the Monroe News. Morenci photo courtesy of Larry Tuttle.)
1st & Goal: 2022 Week 4 Preview
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
September 16, 2022
If last week’s top matchups could be considered tough to gauge beforehand, this week’s are a breeze to forecast.
Of the 18 teams listed below in our best-expected games from every region, 13 are ranked in the top 10 of their respective divisions by the Michigan High School Football Coaches Association. Our “Bay & Thumb” highlighted game featured two top-six Division 8 teams, and three more of those 13 are top-ranked with our best 8-player matchup featuring two teams that played in Finals last fall.
Games are Friday unless noted. Click for the full schedule from MHSAA.com and check out the broadcast schedule from MHSAA.tv.
Bay & Thumb
Ubly (3-0) at Harbor Beach (3-0)
The Bearcats continue to thrive as one of the strongest small-school programs in the state, as last season’s only loss came in the Division 8 Semifinals and after they were Division 8 runners-up in 2020 and also made the Semifinals in 2019. Ubly seemed to take over as the Greater Thumb Conference East powerhouse from Harbor Beach, but didn’t truly shake the Pirates until sweeping them last year 50-33 during the regular season and 35-6 in a playoff opener. Harbor Beach should put up another challenge this time; the Pirates didn’t give up a point this season until last week. Both teams have two wins over 2021 playoff teams.
Keep an eye on these FRIDAY Fenton (2-1) at Swartz Creek (3-0), Clare (2-1) at Gladwin (3-0), Saginaw Heritage (3-0) at Davison (2-1), North Branch (3-0) at Almont (3-0).
Greater Detroit
Detroit Martin Luther King (1-1) at Detroit Cass Tech (1-2)
This annual matchup between Detroit Public School League powers – now back in the same division – will be a breakout game for the winner. Both have suffered losses to Indiana powerhouses – Cass Tech to Carmel and King to Indianapolis Warren Central – and both rebounded to open the league schedule with 60-point shutouts. King won both matchups with Cass last season, but by only seven and six points. As usual, this likely will be just the first of two meetings this fall, with the next in the PSL playoffs.
Keep an eye on these FRIDAY Clarkston (2-1) at West Bloomfield (3-0), South Lyon East (3-0) at Walled Lake Western (3-0), River Rouge (2-0) at Orchard Lake St. Mary’s (1-2), Carleton Airport (3-0) at Grosse Ile (3-0).
Mid-Michigan
DeWitt (2-1) at East Lansing (3-0)
This has been the matchup not just in the Capital Area Activities Conference Blue but usually all of Greater Lansing since DeWitt moving into the league in 2018. The Panthers have won four of the five matchups since, including two in the playoffs and 49-14 last season. This should see a much closer result. East Lansing’s run so far this fall includes two wins over likely league title contenders, Portage Central and Fenton. DeWitt’s two wins also came against league title contenders in Haslett and Portland, and the young Panthers continued to show they’re learning quickly in last week’s overtime loss at Detroit Catholic Central.
Keep an eye on these FRIDAY Mason (3-0) at Williamston (3-0), Traverse City Central (1-2) at Mount Pleasant (3-0), Lansing Waverly (3-0) at Grand Ledge (2-1), Lake Odessa Lakewood (2-1) at Perry (2-1).
Northern Lower Peninsula
Kingsley (2-1) at Traverse City St. Francis (3-0)
Don’t let the Stags’ one-point loss to Gaylord in Week 2 take any of the dazzle off this Northern Michigan Football League Legends clash. Kingsley’s only other regular-season losses over the last five seasons were to St. Francis, 38-30 last season and then in 2018. The Gladiators have lit up the scoreboard with 42 or more points every game this fall, and they own an impressive 42-35 Week 2 win over Jackson Lumen Christi.
Keep an eye on these FRIDAY Evart (3-0) at Manton (2-1), Beal City (3-0) at Lake City (2-1), Elk Rapids (3-0) at Charlevoix (3-0), Grand Blanc (1-2) at Traverse City West (1-2).
Southeast & Border
Adrian (2-1) at Tecumseh (3-0)
We featured Tecumseh earlier this week as that team is off to a grand start as it seeks its first winning season since 2013. Adrian is in a similar spot, having won two games a year ago, with those victories breaking a previous losing streak that stretched back to 2017. After falling to Ada Forest Hills Eastern in their opener, the Maples have won by 27 and 31, respectively, the last two weeks. The winner of this matchup may provide the toughest challenge to Chelsea in the Southeastern Conference White.
Keep an eye on these FRIDAY Union City (2-1) at Reading (3-0), Erie Mason (3-0) at Petersburg Summerfield (2-1), Saline (3-0) at Monroe (2-1), Pinckney (1-2) at Chelsea (2-1).
Southwest Corridor
Constantine (2-1) at Schoolcraft (3-0)
After last season’s game couldn’t be played, this rivalry that goes back at least 70 years is back. And although these teams remain in separate divisions of the Southwestern Athletic Conference, this matchup still carries plenty of clout. The Falcons do have a defeat, but by only two to a Hudson team that’s won 17 straight. Schoolcraft is coming off a four-point win over Kalamazoo United as it continues to rebound from last season – the Kalamazoo win was the second straight to avenge a 2021 loss.
Keep an eye on these FRIDAY Edwardsburg (2-1) at Vicksburg (2-1), Battle Creek Lakeview (1-1) at St. Joseph (2-1), Sturgis (2-1) at Paw Paw (2-1), Centreville (2-1) at Decatur (2-1).
Upper Peninsula
Gladstone (3-0) at St. Ignace (3-0)
These two have been the stories of the Upper Peninsula so far this season as both are on a roll after finishing sub-.500 last fall. Gladstone has defeated three 2021 league champions and appears the team to chase in the Great Northern Conference. St. Ignace may be the same in the Northern Michigan Football League Legacy coming off its second-straight shutout this month, this one against last season’s Legends runner-up Frankfort.
Keep an eye on these FRIDAY Manistique (2-1) at Negaunee (3-0), L’Anse (2-1) at Iron Mountain (2-1), Menominee (1-2) at Escanaba (1-2). SATURDAY Bark River-Harris (3-0) at Houghton (2-1).
West Michigan
Ludington (3-0) at Muskegon Oakridge (3-0)
Two of the region’s best matchups this week come from the West Michigan Conference Lakes – Montague/Whitehall is the other – which means the league should sort out a bit by Saturday. Ludington is new to the league after playing formerly in the Lakes 8 Conference, and the Orioles already have equaled their win total of all of last season. The Oakridge matchup presents another level of opportunity though, as the Eagles are regular contenders in the former one-division WMC and owners of three wins already this fall over 2021 playoff qualifiers.
Keep an eye on these FRIDAY Byron Center (1-2) at Lowell (3-0), Montague (2-1) at Whitehall (3-0), Belding (3-0) at Grandville Calvin Christian (3-0), Holland West Ottawa (2-1) at Grandville (3-0)
8-Player
Colon (3-0) at Adrian Lenawee Christian (3-0)
The Cougars are bringing a 27-game winning streak into this matchup – coinciding with their move to 8-player at the start of the 2020 season – and Colon was the opponent for two of those victories. But the Magi, last season’s Division 2 runner-up, also gave eventual Division 1 champ Lenawee Christian one of its best challenges last season, 47-21. Sidenote: These are two of five Southern Central Athletic Association A teams that have opened 2-1 or better.
Keep an eye on these FRIDAY Norway (3-0) at Crystal Falls Forest Park (3-0), Breckenridge (2-1) at Portland St. Patrick (3-0), Cedarville (3-0) at Newberry (2-1). SATURDAY Suttons Bay (2-1) at Brown City (3-0).
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PHOTO: A South Haven receiver pulls in a pass against Ada Forest Hills Eastern in Week 1. (Photo by Michigan Sports Photo.)