Mark Robichaud (born ) is a former American

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

coach. He served as the head football coach at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth from 2007 until his retirement after the 2022 season; leading the UMass Dartmouth Corsairs football to a record of 70–81 in fifteen seasons. Robichaud previously was an assistant coach for

Shepherd A shepherd or sheepherder is a person who tends, herds, feeds, or guards flocks of sheep. ''Shepherd'' derives from Old English ''sceaphierde (''sceap'' 'sheep' + ''hierde'' 'herder'). ''Shepherding is one of the world's oldest occupations, i ...

, where he helped lead the team to a record of 54–31 in that time span. During his time at Shepherd the team had eight winning seasons, five West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WVIAC) championships, three NCAA Division II Football Championship playoffs appearances, and two advances into the second round. At UMass Dartmouth, he led the team back to success by reaching the

New England Bowl New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

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, and their first NCAA Division III Football Championship playoff appearance in twenty years in

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. He finished second all-time in wins with the team.

Coaching career

Robichaud began his coaching career with

Springfield Springfield may refer to: * Springfield (toponym), the place name in general Places and locations Australia * Springfield, New South Wales (Central Coast) * Springfield, New South Wales (Snowy Monaro Regional Council) * Springfield, Queenslan ...

and

Milford Academy Milford Academy is a post-secondary school founded in 1916 as Yale Preparatory School. It has been located in New Berlin, New York since 2004. Although founded as a preparatory school, its current focus is as a school for athletes who have th ...

. He then joined Wesleyan as a linebackers coach. He got his first main coaching job as a

defensive coordinator A defensive coordinator is a coach responsible for a gridiron football (American football) team's defense. Generally, the defensive coordinator, the offensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator represent the second level of a team's c ...

for Chicago. In 1991, his final year with the team, they finished 0–10 under Greg Quick. In 1992,

hired Robichaud as the team's defensive line coach,

recruiting coordinator Recruitment is the process of filling job vacancies with people. Recruitment or recruiting may also refer to: *Recruitment (biology), the process of developing the next generation of organisms *College recruiting, the process in college athletics ...

, and athletic-academic advisor. In his nine year stretch with the team, the team went 54–31, including eight winning seasons, five West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WVIAC) championships, and three NCAA Division II tournament appearances, including two advancements to the second round. During Robichaud's stint with Shepherd he worked with Division I team Brown where he worked as an assistant coach during the 2000 season. In 2004, Robichaud joined

Bishop Stang High School Bishop Stang High School is a private Catholic high school located in North Dartmouth, Massachusetts, in the New England region of the United States. It was the first diocesan secondary school in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Fall River, which inc ...

as an assistant coach. With the school, they won two Eastern Athletic Conference championships, two Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA) playoff berths, and an appearance in the 2005 MIAA Superbowl.

UMass Dartmouth

In 2007, Robichaud was hired by UMass Dartmouth to be their third head coach all-time, despite having no prior head coaching experience. He replaced William Kavanaugh, who resigned to become the head coach of Robichaud's previous team, Bishop Stang High School. In his first season with the team they went 5–5. The team started 0–5, but after beating Nichols, 28–7, the team won five straight to finish at an even .500. Over the next ten years the team was consistently below average, reaching as high 6–4 in 2008 and as low as 0–10 in 2009 and 1–9 in 2012. In 2019, the Corsairs began the season with a 54–7 win over Alfred State and won their first four games of the season before falling to Framingham State 39–33. The team would drop another game to Bridgewater State 56–20 before winning their homecoming game against Worcester State 46–8. The team finished with a record of 7–3, their best since their last Bowl Game appearance in 2004 under Kavanaugh. In 2020, the season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, Robichaud and the Corsairs were back to their winning ways after a year off after the cancellation of the 2020 season. Compiling a record of 9–2 enroot to a New England Bowl appearance where the team faced Alfred State. The game ended in a 42–16 win for the Corsairs, their first bowl win since 2003. In 2022, Robichaud and the Corsairs compiled a 9–1 record en route to a playoff appearance and a MASCAC championship after beating Plymouth State 46–21 in Plymouth. He received the Murray Lewis Award, given to an outstanding football coach who positively influenced the game of football. Robichaud was named as the BSN Coach of the Year.

Retirement

On February 1, 2023, Robichaud announced his retirement from coaching.

Personal life

Robichaud and his wife live in Little Compton, Rhode Island and have two children. He previously served as a physical education teacher for Wesleyan University and Westport Middle School.

Head coaching record

References

External links

UMass Dartmouth profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Robichaud, Mark Year of birth missing (living people) 1960s births Living people Brown Bears football coaches Chicago Maroons football coaches Shepherd Rams football coaches Springfield Pride football coaches Springfield Pride football players UMass Dartmouth Corsairs football coaches Wesleyan Cardinals football coaches High school football coaches in Massachusetts High school football coaches in New York (state) High school football coaches in Rhode Island