Late in 2024, Marywood announced it would add a 23rd NCAA Division III team in women’s flag football. Already a member of the Atlantic East Conference, the conference was announced as the first across all of NCAA to have women’s flag football recognized as a varsity sport, with the inaugural season set for the 2024-25 academic year.

Though the first varsity season for the Pacers won’t be until the 2025-26 academic year, the team has hired the program’s first head coach. Bill Reiss was announced as the head coach of the women’s flag football team.

Reiss is a Northeast Pennsylvania native, hailing from Wilkes-Barre. He has a lengthy background in coaching in the area, serving as one of Lackawanna College’s assistant football coaches for the past 16 seasons, specifically as the defensive coordinator for the last 11.

Per the media release, Marywood’s Director of Athletics and Recreation Andrew Smith said, “We are excited to welcome Coach Reiss to Marywood. We were impressed with his background experience with the highly successful Lackawanna College football program. As a coordinator there, he has had a hand in producing numerous All Americans and several professional players. We are confident that he will lead the ladies in the flag football program to success on the field and in the classroom.”

Reiss helped lead the Falcons to 7-3 records in each of the last four seasons. The defensive-minded coach helped the Lackawanna defense limit opposing offenses to less than 24 points per game in the time span.

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