Lake Forest College

The 2024 season was Mark Dodd’s 10th at Lake Forest College and 16th in coaching. He works directly with the team’s tight ends and H-backs.

Lake Forest posted a 10-1 overall record and claimed a Midwest Conference title with a perfect 9-0 mark in Midwest Conference play in 2024. The team also played in the second round of the NCAA Division III Tournament for the first time in program history. The Foresters are now 65-31 overall and 49-20 in the league with three conference championships and NCAA Playoff appearances in Dodd's 10 seasons with the team.  

Utilized more for their blocking than receiving, Forester tight ends and H-backs have caught 154 passes for 1,677 yards and 18 touchdowns since the start of 2019. They have also helped lead the offense to single-season scoring totals that rank among the top 10 in program history in each of the last eight full seasons. Bode Rubright was a Second Team All-MWC selection in 2024.

Dodd was the offensive line coach during his first stint at the College (2010-11). The Foresters averaged more than 26 points per game during the two seasons combined and set program records for points, total yards, and passing yards in 2011.

Dodd, 28-year veteran of the U.S. Navy, began his coaching career in 1996 while playing for the Hampton Road Sharks in the Mason-Dixon League. He was then the offensive line and strength & conditioning coach at Maury High School in Norfolk, Virginia, in 1997. Dodd served in the same capacity in 1998 with the post-graduate team at Hargrave Military Academy before going 14-6 the next two years as Hargrave’s head high school coach.

As a Navy SEAL Dodd was awarded Commendation with Valor during Operation Just Cause. He also served in Operations Desert Shield, Iraqi Freedom, and Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan, where he earned a Bronze Star.

Dodd has three daughters, a granddaughter, and a grandson and lives in nearby Gurnee.