IOWA CITY – Marv Cook announced in an open letter to Your Prep Sports that he is stepping down as the Regina football coach after 14 seasons.

The timing makes sense with Cook’s youngest of three children, all-state quarterback Ashton Cook, having graduated from Regina last week.

Ashton Cook also plans to play football for Iowa State and will be a freshman quarterback this coming fall.

Marv Cook, 55, led Regina to seven state titles during his historical run as head coach.

The West Branch native is also a former Iowa All-America tight end under Hayden Fry and played seven seasons in the NFL.

By Marv Cook

After weeks of deep thought and reflection, I am stepping down as head football coach at Iowa City Regina.

I apologize for not addressing this earlier, but I wanted to be confident and secure in my decision and wasn’t able to achieve that until this week. This was not an easy decision because Regina football means so much to me, but the timing is right to step aside.

This past Sunday I attended the 2021 graduation at Regina High School and the commencement address was given by the faith-filled and enthusiastic teacher Clark McFerren. He was asked to write a report on the reason why he teaches at Regina. His response was concise and brilliant in its simplicity. His reasons for teaching are also what made coaching at Regina so special.

Regina is blessed with the leadership of the four parishes in our community. Regina is special because of our administration and teachers and their tireless commitment to our students. Regina is great because of our students. Their energy and desire to learn and grow stronger in their faith each and every day serves as the inspiration and motivation for all of us.

As I worked through the process of deciding on whether I should remain as head coach at Regina, the main thought that kept running through my mind is how thankful I am to all of those who have been a part of the past 14 seasons.

Thank you to the administration for hiring me and supporting me over the past 14 years, and the search committee who took a shot on a former player from a rival school whose previous coaching experience consisted of coaching youth football, basketball, baseball and 3^rd  and 4^th grade girls softball.

Thank you to the Booster Club, support staff and volunteers who make game days so special, to the chain gang, press box staff, ticket takers, grill and concession stand help, field painting crews, sports reporters and game day officials, to Johnnie James and UIHC Sports Medicine, and to the Steindler Orthopedic Clinic physicians and staff.

Thank you to all the opposing coaches and staffs that we have been fortunate to get to know over the past several years. They have all been extremely generous with their time and have always picked up the phone when I’ve had questions and needed advice.

Thank you to the families who have entrusted their children to our instruction and coaching. I truly hope you know that we strived to teach each one of the players in our program as if they were a member of our own families. My favorite times shared with them usually involved the times when things were either going extremely well or extremely bad. Great teaching moments!

Thank you to all the coaches who have stood alongside me over the past 14 years. Several of which have been with us for the duration. They are all great men and their countless hours and dedication to the players and team have been the cornerstone of the success that this program has achieved.

Thank you to Doug Vincent whose commitment to our student athletes’ safety and well-being has served our program extremely well over the past decade as we have seen great changes in the game! His initiative, insight, and foresight has enabled our program to stay up to date regarding equipment and safety measures.  His leadership and oversight at all levels of our program and game day operations has been an invaluable resource to the program.

The most important thank you goes to the players. My greatest desire and goal for coaching at this level was to strive to give each of you experiences during high school that will last forever.  Experiences that will provide you with the memories of shared common goals and interest, of working together to achieve a desired outcome and to instill in you the belief that if you are willing to surround yourself with like-minded people and work hard enough you can achieve great things.

I hope that the process we have utilized will help serve as a foundation that will enable you to have BIG dreams, and that you will work as hard as you can to make them come true. Please know that I believe in you and I have high expectations that you can and will accomplish great things!

Thank you for allowing me to be the head football coach at Iowa City Regina!

It was an honor, privilege and something I will cherish forever.

Blue Fight Fight -Gold Fight Fight!

Marv Cook