Robert Lee Marlin (born March 5, 1959) is an American college basketball coach who is the former head men's basketball coach for the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns men’s basketball team. He was relieved of his coaching duties on December 19, 2024. Previously, he was the head coach at Sam Houston State from 1998 to 2010.

Early life and education

Born in

Tupelo, Mississippi Tupelo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lee County, Mississippi, United States. Founded in 1860, the population was 37,923 at the United States Census, 2020, 2020 census. It is the List of municipalities in Mississippi, 7th-most populous ...

, Marlin graduated from

Mississippi State University Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Mississippi State, Mississippi, Un ...

in 1981 with a B.S. in physical education. Marlin completed a master's degree in health and physical education at Northeast Louisiana University (now the

University of Louisiana at Monroe The University of Louisiana at Monroe (ULM) is a public university in Monroe, Louisiana, United States. It is part of the University of Louisiana System. History ULM opened in 1931 as Ouachita Parish Junior College. Three years later it becam ...

) in 1983.

Coaching career

Early assistant positions (1983–1990)

While attending graduate school at Northeast Louisiana, Marlin was a graduate assistant for the Northeast Louisiana Indians men's basketball team under Mike Vining from 1981 to 1983, during which Northeast Louisiana made the 1982 NCAA tournament. After graduate school, Marlin worked in his first full-time coaching job as an assistant at Houston Baptist from 1983 to 1989 under

Gene Iba Clarence Eugene Iba (born November 5, 1940) is a former American college basketball coach. He was previously the Pittsburg State Gorillas men's basketball coach until 2010. He was head coach at Houston Baptist from 1977 to 1985, Baylor from 198 ...

and Tommy Jones. Marlin helped Houston Baptist qualify for the

1984 NCAA tournament The 1984 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament involved 53 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 13, 1984, and ended with the champion ...

. In the 1989–90 season, Marlin was an assistant at

Marshall Marshall may refer to: Places Australia *Marshall, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria ** Marshall railway station Canada * Marshall, Saskatchewan * The Marshall, a mountain in British Columbia Liberia * Marshall, Liberia Marshall Is ...

under

Dana Altman Dana Dean Altman (born June 16, 1958) is an American college basketball coach of the Oregon Ducks men's team. Previously he was head coach at Creighton, Kansas State and Marshall. He has been awarded a Coach of the Year Award for each team tha ...

on a team that finished second in the

Southern Conference The Southern Conference (SoCon) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I. Southern Conference College football, football teams c ...

Pensacola Junior College (1990–1995)

Marlin's first head coaching position was at Pensacola Junior College (now

Pensacola State College Pensacola State College (PSC) is a public college in Pensacola, Florida. It is part of the Florida College System. Originally established as Pensacola Junior College in 1948, the college underwent a name change in July 2010 to reflect its expand ...

) from 1990 to 1995. In five seasons, Marlin led Pensacola to a 123–35 record and the 1993

NJCAA The National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) is the governing association of community college, State college (disambiguation), state college, and junior college athletics throughout the United States. Currently the NJCAA holds 24 sepa ...

national championship, for which he won NJCAA Coach of the Year honors. Additionally, 27 players who played under Marlin won athletic scholarships from four-year schools.

Alabama assistant (1995–1998)

Returning to the NCAA Division I level, Marlin was an assistant coach at

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

from 1995 to 1998 under David Hobbs. During this time, Alabama finished third in the 1996 National Invitation Tournament.

Sam Houston State (1998–2010)

At Sam Houston State, Marlin was head coach from 1998 to 2010. With a cumulative 225–131 record, Marlin led the Bearkats to three

Southland Conference The Southland Conference (SLC) is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the South Central United States (specifically Texas and Louisiana). It participates in the NCAA's Division I for all sports; for football, it participates in ...

regular season titles (2000, 2003, and 2010) and two Southland Conference tournament titles and NCAA Tournament automatic qualifications (2003 and 2010), including the program's first-ever NCAA Division I Tournament appearance in

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

Louisiana (2010–2024)

The

University of Louisiana at Lafayette The University of Louisiana at Lafayette (UL Lafayette, University of Louisiana, ULL, or UL) is a Public university, public research university in Lafayette, Louisiana, United States. It has the largest enrollment within the nine-campus Universi ...

hired Marlin as head coach for the

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

team on March 29, 2010. In 10 seasons, Marlin has a cumulative 188–143 record at Louisiana (Louisiana–Lafayette before 2017), with two

Sun Belt Conference The Sun Belt Conference (SBC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference that has been affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA's NCAA Division I, Division I since 1976. Originally a non-football confe ...

regular season titles (2011 and 2018) and the 2014 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball tournament championship with an automatic qualification to the 2014 NCAA tournament. On March 7, 2019, Marlin became the fifth coach in Sun Belt Conference history to earn 100 league victories after Louisiana earned a come-from-behind 77-72 win at Little Rock. Louisiana appeared in the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament in

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

, and

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

. In the 2017–18 season, Louisiana reached a school record 27 wins with a first-place finish in the Sun Belt and NIT appearance. Days prior to the NIT first round game against in-state opponent

LSU Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

, Marlin questioned why Louisiana had a lower seed than LSU. On March 14, 2018, LSU won the NIT first round game at home 84–76 over Louisiana. Late in the game, Marlin and LSU coach

Will Wade Frank Williams Wade (born November 26, 1982) is an American college basketball coach who serves as the head men's basketball coach at NC State Wolfpack men's basketball, North Carolina State University. He previously coached at Chattanooga Mocs ...

were confrontational towards each other, even needing to be restrained.

Head coaching record

Junior college

College

References

External links

Louisiana profile

Sam Houston State profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marlin, Bob 1959 births Living people Alabama Crimson Tide men's basketball coaches American men's basketball coaches Basketball coaches from Mississippi Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns men's basketball coaches Marshall Thundering Herd men's basketball coaches Mississippi State University alumni Pensacola State Pirates men's basketball coaches Sam Houston Bearkats men's basketball coaches Sportspeople from Tupelo, Mississippi University of Louisiana at Monroe alumni