"Possibly the most manipulative person I have ever come across. There were 13 freshman one year and only 3 graduated without quitting. He creates a scary team culture where he pits people against each other. He once said that I had too small of hands to play (he recruited me)
I have over a dozen stories of him going out of his way to put people down and intentionally degrade them.
He knows the sport but would never recommend anyone to ever play for him. The biggest regret I have from college is not quitting sooner once I witnessed his fake disingenuous nature. He took away everything I loved about the sport. Goes out of his way to make people feel bad about themselves. Would never recommend to anyone "
"Our daughter's biggest concern about playing water polo for Marcello was she wouldn't get a lot of play time. She was recruited by many other Division One schools and offered a full ride with them, but she chose MI because he sold her on it. She learned the first week she had made a mistake. All he did was mentally abuse her making her feel inadequate and out of place with the rest of the team. We put our girls into athletics to improve their self-esteem, but all Marcello did was destroy our daughter's. He has no business coaching anyone."
"His is a terrible coach! He is a manipulative, abusive liar. He always shamed his players about their skills and ability, and their body. He told his players that they would never be good enough, and they were either too fat or too skinny. He was so abusive and the worst coach ever. Should’ve been fired years ago!"
"Manipulative person that gets defensive when criticised. Also creates a bad team culture through pitting players against one another and talking negatively about players to others on team. "
"Marcelo is one of the worst coaches in the NCAA for water polo. He is manipulative and lacks empathy. Very few to no girls on the team like him. He is very knowledgeable about water polo and prepares his players well for games. On the other hand, because of his foolish tactics, his team will never be a true contender for a national championship. "
"He's very straight-forward, blunt, and sometimes lacks a filter. This can be a pro cause he won't BS you and will give it to you straight but can be a con cause his words can definitely sting sometimes. But if you have a thick skin and don't take some of his comments too seriously, he'll teach you a LOT and definitely make you a better player."
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