The last time we talked to Larry Marmie was shortly after the NFL season ended and he was set to embark on his retirement from coaching with the Seattle Seahawks.

However, Marmie admitted that other than spending time with his nine grandchildren, he had no definite plans on what he’d do with all of his free time because he didn’t hunt, play golf or any of the other activies many folks can’t wait for retirement in which to take part.

So, it’s only fitting that the Barnesville native who spent more than 40 years in the coaching spends his retirement coaching professional football.

“This is certainly different than anything I’ve done in the past,” Marmie said. “There’s a lot of flexibility, a decent amount of free time and the season ends in November and I’m off until March.”

Marmie accepted a position as secondary coach with the Las Vegas Locomotives in the United Football League, working under former New York Giants’ head coach Jim Fassel.

The United Football League is entering its second season and it comprised of five teams. It’s an outdoor, 11-man game, which Marmie terms a “developmental league with a lot of young players you can work with.”

Training camp for the 2010 season begins in August, there’s no pre-season games, only an eight-game schedule and the entire year is wrapped up by Thanksgiving weekend when the championship game is contested.

“I am working year-to-year,” Marmie said. “There’s not a lot of travel involved since I am living in Phoenix now. The coaching staff worked two weeks in March, April, May and June in Phoenix because Coach Fassel lived there too, so I didn’t have to go anywhere.”

Marmie and his high-school sweetheart, Linda, spent plenty of hours talking about the decision whether to get back into football and retirement.

“We’d kind of prepared for retirement and talked about how different it would be,” Marmie said. “I knew the time was coming eventually. We hadn’t planned it long in advance or anything, but I knew the time was right for me to retire from the NFL.”

Marmie and Fassel worked together for one season with the Arizona Cardinals before Fassel departed to take the Giants job. However, the two obviously crossed paths in head-to-head contests.

“I probably hadn’t been home for two weeks after my retirement started and Jim called me to see if I’d be interested,” Marmie said. “I like Jim and the mentality he has. He’s a good guy to work with and for, and it worked out well being close to where I live. Plus, I still enjoy the teaching and the competitiveness. Everything you’re doing, you’re doing to win whether it’s in the NFL, UFL or at Barnesville High School.”

Unlike some football leagues – outdoor and/or indoor – which have struggled financially and eventually faded away, the UFL appears to be on solid footing. It’s got a national television deal with Versus and is attracting big names as players and obviously coaches.

“I am a novice with this league, but I think the people who’ve invested and put this thing together really looked at some of the mistakes of some of the other leagues like the USFL or the XFL and put this thing on solid footing to begin with,” Marmie said. “Again, I don’t know all of the details just yet, but from my understanding all of the teams work under the same budgets for players and coaches.”

Marmie admits he’s in good health and he’s still got the juices to coach on a daily basis, but he wouldn’t go as far as to say the stop in Las Vegas would be his last coaching stop for good.

“Chances are this is my last coaching stop, but I don’t know for sure,” Marmie said. “I turned my retirement papers into the NFL and I didn’t take this job with the plans of getting back into coaching in the NFL.”

So what would it take to coax Marmie back to NFL coaching?

“The only way I’d come back to coach in the NFL is with the right person,” Marmie said. “By that I mean, it would have to be someone I had great trust and belief in their philsophy. There are a few of those guys out there, but whether or not that would actually happen or not, I probably doubt it.”

Proving even further that coaching is in Marmie’s blood, the 1960 Barnesville High graduate was back in his hometown this weekend to visit with family and friends, but spent Saturday morning working with the Shamrocks’ grid staff and players at the annual Barnesville Youth Football Clinic.

“My wife (Linda), who is also from Barnesville, and I try to get back at least once a year to see our families,” Marmie said. “Maybe now that I am not working fulltime, I will be able to get back a little more often.”

Marmie, who planned his Ohio Valley visit this weekend prior to knowing about the camp, noticed that the Shamrocks were hosting their annual youth football event and promptly volunteered his services.

“Usually when I am home, I run into (athletic director) Mark Cook or (head football coach) Luke Johnson and have gotten to know them over the years,” Marmie said. “When I saw that I’d be home for the camp this weekend, I let them know that I’d be glad to come out and help. I really enjoy this kind of thing and the opportunity to see the young kids and help out.”

SETH’S SCOOPS

• Marmie – who keeps close tabs on Barnesville and the Ohio Valley – was aware of the tragedy which struck the community last weekend when R.J. Baker and Clayton Rebecca-Hall were tragically killed in an autmobile accident just over a week ago.

“At that age, we kind of think those types of things never happen to us,” Marmie said. “We talk about living one day at a time, doing the best we can every day and knowing that for all of our actions there are consequences. I think since they are a team they can help each other come back together and just realize that life is fragile.”

• MARMIE was the head coach at Arizona State University for four seasons. During that time, current West Virginia head coach and New Martinsville native Bill Stewart was on his staff with the Sun Devils.

• THIS TRIP back to the Ohio Valley was even more special for Marmie. He and his fellow 1960 graduates celebrated their 50th class reunion Saturday evening.

“This weekend is even more special because of the reunion,” Marmie said. “I enjoy coming back to see my friends and seeing a lot of my classmates and teammates is nice. It’s nice to have a chance to reminisce and talk about the old days.”

Staskey can be reached at sstaskey@timesleaderonline.com