Essex County Coach Earns 'Man Of The Year Award' From Italian American Police Society

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — A Belleville native and Cedar Grove resident who amassed a huge trove of wins as a coach with Caldwell University and Bloomfield College has earned a prestigious honor from the Italian American Police Officers Society of New Jersey (IAPSNJ).

Mark Corino has been named as the group’s 2026 “Man of the Year Award” recipient, the organization announced this week.

Corino currently serves as assistant vice president and director of athletics at Caldwell University, where he has spent 38 years.

In addition to his administrative responsibilities, Corino served as the head men’s basketball coach for the university from 1988 through 2022, posting 511 victories in 34 seasons. Combined with 95 victories he earned at Bloomfield College from 1983-88, his 606 victories are the most by any collegiate coach in New Jersey history – a feat noted as the borough of Caldwell's "Sports Claim to Fame" by NJ.com in 2025.

• See Related: Caldwell University’s Mark Corino Coaches 1,000th Game

Corino will be honored with the award at the IAPSNJ’s annual gala on Saturday, March 21.

“I am truly humbled to be recognized by such a prestigious organization that holds such a close place in my heart,” Corino said.

“The true heroes are the police officers who put their lives on the line every day, and it will be the supreme honor to stand alongside these men and women at the gala,” Corino added.

Corino is the youngest of three brothers who have combined for more than 1,000 coaching victories at the collegiate and high school levels. His 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.

Caldwell University offered some background on Corino’s achievements in the local world of sports:

“[Mark] 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 2025-26, Caldwell has grown to 16 intercollegiate athletic programs that compete in the CACC (14 teams), the Collegiate Sprint Football League (sprint football) and the National Collegiate Acrobatics & Tumbling Association (acrobatics & tumbling). Corino oversaw the university’s transition from NAIA to NCAA Division II, a process that began in 1998 and was completed in 2002. From 2011-2025, 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, coming in 2026-27, women's flag football.

“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 as home to its baseball and men's and women's lacrosse teams. Corino has also directed 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. In his Assistant Vice President role, Corino is a member of the Caldwell University President's Cabinet.”

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