Mottola resigning posts at MMA Health reasons halt 37-year career

New York native Bill Mottola admits that when he became an assistant football coach and the head baseball coach at Maine Maritime Academy in 1967, he wasn’t sure how long he would remain in Castine.

He’s still there.

But he now possesses an impressive list of accomplishments.

Mottola, who has been the athletic director and head of the physical education department since 1979, has had to resign his position for undisclosed medical reasons.

Men’s basketball coach Chris Murphy is the interim AD.

“I never thought I’d be here this long. It’s been a good run,” said Mottola.

“He really has put Maine Maritime Academy on the map. We’re a small Division III school, but we’re well-known around the country,” said Bob Giamotti, who came to Castine in 1969 and served as the sports information director for 14 years.

“I admire the man,” added Giamotti. “He runs a terrific program for what we have and where we are.”

In addition to his duties as assistant football and head baseball coach, Mottola later added wrestling and golf to his resume and he was the head football coach from 1968-78 before becoming the athletic director.

“I worked very closely with him for over 10 years at the district level [in NAIA] and he was a wonderful person to work with,” said Husson College’s Bruce MacGregor. “He was really well-organized and he always spoke his mind freely. He always had the best interest of all the players at heart.”

“It’s all about the students,” said Mottola. “That’s what kept me going – being around them and seeing them grow and expand academically or athletically.”

When he became the AD, MMA offered five varsity sports, all men’s sports.

Now there are 13 sports, including six for women.

The biggest obstacle in establishing women’s sports was the lack of a female population at the school.

“It came slowly,” said Mottola.

As the number of females increased, so did the athletic opportunities for them.

“It has come about quicker than we ever thought it would,” said Mottola. “Once we got started, we wanted to jump right into it. We didn’t want to allow ourselves a long period of time. We needed it and we got it done. The women’s coaching has been very strong.

“Things are booming at the present time. In addition to our varsity sports, we have very strong intramural and club sports programs,” said Mottola, who has been the commissioner of the New England Football Conference for several years.

The former Ithaca College football standout, who has always taught at MMA, has received several awards, including administrator of the year in NAIA District 5 for 1987, primarily for his work developing women’s programs.

“I was pretty proud of that,” said the 61-year-old Mottola, who owns two master’s degrees.

He has also chaired several committees, including one to select the NCAA Division III football tournament field.

“That was quite an honor for me personally because there were only eight across the country,” said Mottola.

He said he has received tons of support during his time at MMA.

“We’ve had good, strong coaches with a desire to win, and I’ve been blessed to work for a number of presidents who supported athletics,” said Mottola.

Mottola and wife Sally have two sons, Billy Jr. and Tony, and five grandchildren.

Billy Jr. is the offensive line coach at Kent State University (Ohio) and Tony is an assistant football coach and golf coach at St. Joseph’s School (N.J.).