About Us

 Marcellus Riley, Jr., our Founder & CEO, is a Washington, DC native and a devoted father. He is the son of a retired MPD officer and an alumnus of Friendship Collegiate Academy. Mr. Riley holds a Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration from Fayetteville State University, where he was a three-year letterman on the football team.

Marcellus' passion for helping others stems from the experiences and knowledge provided at a young age. Growing up in different parts of Washington, DC allowed him to see the city he grew up in through different lenses. During the pandemic, being able to see how much the community needed financial literacy to understand how to manage the various financial benefits provided. Realizing after students returned to classrooms after being home and having to focus on education outside the structured learning. Then identifying the issues many had with obtaining employment and how it caused an increase in members of the Tent City homeless community, Marcellus set out to impact these issues through Essence of Coaching Foundation, Inc., which was established in September 2021.

After graduating, he became entrenched in the community through athletics and began his coaching career at Kelly Miller Middle School. He then went on to eventually coach, appear in three, and win two championships at Ballou Senior HS, thus earning an opportunity to serve as the defensive coordinator at Jackson-Reed before going on to coach at St. John's College HS. Coach Cellus also spent time at Johnson Middle School during his coaching journey.

Coach Cellus passion for Coaching began

late in his playing career. Being able to

directly relate to the past, present and

future generation of coaches & players, he

began trying to better himself to be

mentioned amongst some of the best

Coaches in the area. Demonstrating

gained knowledge through player

development and schematic execution

over the years has led Coach Cellus to

accomplishing his goal much faster than

expected.