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In his second year at CSN, Mark joined the team on DRIVE, a weekly video segment covering one of the top high school football teams in the state. Mark attended practice once a week and reported on gameday from the sideline, receiving total access to the locker room, sidelines and coaches office. The video segments most closely resembled that of HBO's Hard Knocks, while Mark provided weekly written features on top players, storylines and opponents. He also live-tweeted each game from CSN's Twitter account, @NBCSPreps. You can see more of Mark's work on DRIVE in the "Clips" tab.
In 2013, Mark and Scott Changnon covered the Stevenson Patriots, an 8A team ranked second in the state with Division I athletes in Matt Morrissey (Michigan State), Cameron Green (Northwestern) and Nick Dillon (Western Michigan). The Patriots lost two games to begin the year before reeling off seven straight wins to earn a conference championship. They advanced to the 8A state semifinals before bowing out to eventual runner-up Loyola.
A year later Mark covered the Providence Catholic Celtics, headlined by nationally ranked WR recruit Miles Boykin (Notre Dame). The Celtics, led by Mark Coglianese and legendary former head coach Matt Senffner, went 8-1 in the regular season, won a conference championship and breezed through the 7A state playoffs, earning the program's 10th state championship in Champaign. After the season Mark wrote a longform feature on Boykin's journey to Notre Dame, and was a co-producer on the 30-minute TV feature that aired on CSN. Mark and co-producer Scott Changnon were nominated for a 2016 Chicago/Midwest Emmy Award for the feature.
In 2015 Mark covered the Homewood-Flossmoor Vikings, the top-ranked team in Illinois. The Vikings featured one of the state's all-time best offenses and finished 12-2, losing to eventual 8A champion Loyola in the quarterfinals. Mark wrote a longform feature on quarterback Bryce Gray, who accepted a scholarship to play baseball at Notre Dame.
In 2016 Mark covered the Lincoln-Way East Griffins. The team was in a unique situation as they integrated students from the recently-closed Lincoln-Way North, which featured a football team that went 11-1 in 2015. The Griffins went 8-3 and lost in the 8A quarterfinals to eventual champion Maine South. They were led by guard Sam Diehl, the "total package" of the LWE line.
In 2017 he co-produced a package of vignettes on the history of the Chicago Catholic League from a football perspective. The conference is considered one of the most dominant in the history of high school football and has been around since 1913.
You can find all of Mark's work on The DRIVE here.
In 2013, Mark and Scott Changnon covered the Stevenson Patriots, an 8A team ranked second in the state with Division I athletes in Matt Morrissey (Michigan State), Cameron Green (Northwestern) and Nick Dillon (Western Michigan). The Patriots lost two games to begin the year before reeling off seven straight wins to earn a conference championship. They advanced to the 8A state semifinals before bowing out to eventual runner-up Loyola.
A year later Mark covered the Providence Catholic Celtics, headlined by nationally ranked WR recruit Miles Boykin (Notre Dame). The Celtics, led by Mark Coglianese and legendary former head coach Matt Senffner, went 8-1 in the regular season, won a conference championship and breezed through the 7A state playoffs, earning the program's 10th state championship in Champaign. After the season Mark wrote a longform feature on Boykin's journey to Notre Dame, and was a co-producer on the 30-minute TV feature that aired on CSN. Mark and co-producer Scott Changnon were nominated for a 2016 Chicago/Midwest Emmy Award for the feature.
In 2015 Mark covered the Homewood-Flossmoor Vikings, the top-ranked team in Illinois. The Vikings featured one of the state's all-time best offenses and finished 12-2, losing to eventual 8A champion Loyola in the quarterfinals. Mark wrote a longform feature on quarterback Bryce Gray, who accepted a scholarship to play baseball at Notre Dame.
In 2016 Mark covered the Lincoln-Way East Griffins. The team was in a unique situation as they integrated students from the recently-closed Lincoln-Way North, which featured a football team that went 11-1 in 2015. The Griffins went 8-3 and lost in the 8A quarterfinals to eventual champion Maine South. They were led by guard Sam Diehl, the "total package" of the LWE line.
In 2017 he co-produced a package of vignettes on the history of the Chicago Catholic League from a football perspective. The conference is considered one of the most dominant in the history of high school football and has been around since 1913.
You can find all of Mark's work on The DRIVE here.