Mark A. Corino begins his 34th year at Caldwell University as the Assistant Vice President and Director of Athletics. In addition to his administrative responsibilities, Corino also serves as the head men’s basketball coach for the university, a role he has worked in since his came to Caldwell in 1988.
In perhaps the most challenging year for all college athletics, Corino navigated the Caldwell Athletics Department through the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020-21. Corino successfully guided the department through the implementation of a testing and tracing program and mask guidance while following all health and safety protocols that were issued from the local, state and national levels. His leadership and support from the university administration allowed the department’s athletic programs to compete safely during the spring 2021 semester with some teams like men’s and women’s soccer and women’s volleyball, competing outside of their traditional fall seasons of competition.
In 2018, the university dedicated the playing floor at the George R. Newman Center in honor of Corino for his extensive contributions to the department as the director of athletics and as the head coach of the men’s basketball program. Mark A. Corino Court was officially dedicated on December 8, 2018 that featured speeches from Caldwell President Dr. Nancy Blattner, and Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Commissioner Dan Mara as well as special proclamations from Caldwell Mayor Ann Dassing and West Caldwell Mayor Joe Tempesta Jr.
Corino came to Caldwell as the university’s first full-time athletics director in 1988. In his first year, Corino headed a department that had three programs and no conference affiliation. Entering 2020-21, Caldwell has grown to 17 intercollegiate athletic programs that compete in the CACC (13 teams), the East Coast Conference (women’s bowling), the Collegiate Sprint Football League (sprint football), the National Collegiate Acrobatics & Tumbling Association (acrobatics & tumbling) and the TriState Conference (men’s rugby). Corino oversaw the university’s transition from NAIA to NCAA Division II, a process that began in 1998 and was completed in 2002. From 2011-2021, Caldwell added nine new sports under Corino’s leadership that includes women’s track and field, women’s lacrosse, men’s cross country and track and field, women’s bowling, sprint football, men’s lacrosse, acrobatics & tumbling and men’s rugby.
Along with the jump to NCAA Division II status came an upgrade in facilities with the opening of the state-of-the-art George R. Newman Center, home of the Caldwell University basketball and volleyball teams in 2002. In 2010, Caldwell University, West Caldwell and Essex County came together to fund the renovation of the Kiwanis Oval, an artificial turf facility used by multiple municipalities and Caldwell University. Corino has also contracted agreements to lease Essex Valley Field to host the men’s and women’s lacrosse teams home contests as well as direct an agreement to lease a space for locker rooms, trainer rooms, office and meeting space at Provost Square, adjacent to the Kiwanis Oval, for the men’s lacrosse, baseball and sprint football teams.
Corino played a pivotal role in the creation of the CACC, which has grown to 13 institutions. Corino, who has served as the conference’s president during three separate stints, was named the CACC and NAIA Region X Administrator of the Year in 2000. He also was among 14 finalists for the NAIA National Athletic Administrator of the Year. In 2010, Corino was named the Jostens ECAC Administrator of the Year. For all his contributions and years of service as the athletics director and head coach, Corino was promoted to Caldwell University's Assistant Vice President/Director of Athletics in 2014 and was inducted into the Caldwell Athletics Hall of Fame in 2016. Corino was again honored by his CACC colleagues as he was selected as the 2016-17 and 2020-21 CACC Athletic Director of the Year. Corino also received the prestigious Garden State Award from the Collegiate Athletic Administrators of New Jersey in 2018.
Corino remains actively involved in the intercollegiate athletics community. He is the current President of the CACC Directors Council after being re-elected in 2018 and joined the NCAA Division II Management Council in 2020. Corino has served on the Board of the Directors for the ECAC, and previously served as the CACC’s representative on the Division II Athletic Directors Association Board of Directors. Corino is a former member of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Rules Committee for all divisions and served on the DII East Region’s Regional Advisory Committee for men’s basketball.
A native of Belleville, N.J., Corino attended Kean University, where he earned a Bachelor’s Degree in industrial arts. He later received a Master’s Degree in Curriculum and Instruction from Caldwell in 1997.
Corino is the youngest of three brothers who have combined for more than 1,000 coaching victories at the collegiate and high school levels. Oldest brother Jimmy was a high school basketball coach, while Carl is one of the all-time winningest high school softball coaches in New Jersey.
Corino resides in Cedar Grove, N.J., with his wife Susan, who have a daughter, Michele, son-in-law Michael and grandsons Vincent and Valentino. “My family has been tremendously supportive and without their understanding we would not have been able to accomplish all that we have here at Caldwell,” Corino said. “They’ve played an important part in our success as well.”
