The Front Row with MARK NELKE Jan. 23, 2011

Rod Marinelli and Dale Nosworthy met in 1967 at a California high school shrine football game in Los Angeles.

The next fall, they were freshmen at the University of Utah - Marinelli as an offensive guard and a middle guard, Nosworthy as a wide receiver. They were recruited by Jim Hanifan, a Utah assistant who went on to have a successful NFL career as offensive line coach.

The following summer, shortly before fall practice was to begin, Marinelli and Nosworthy decided they'd had enough of Utah - and hitchhiked back home to southern California - Marinelli to the Los Angeles area, Nosworthy to Long Beach.

Hanifan flew to SoCal to talk to them. He talked Nosworthy into coming back, but Marinelli opted for the military and Vietnam.

YEARS LATER, Nosworthy went on to found the Ground Round, the popular burger and omelette joint in Coeur d'Alene later renamed Nosworthy's Hall of Fame.

Marinelli went on to embark on a coaching career which, this season, has led him to within one game of a return trip to the Super Bowl.

Marinelli is in his second season as assistant head coach and first season as defensive coordinator for the Chicago Bears, who play host to the Green Bay Packers today in the NFC championship game.

And Nosworthy and sons Kelly and Chris will be at Soldier Field to support him. If all went according to plan Saturday night, Marinelli and the Nosworthys would have swapped stories over dinner.

"They called us 'Mutt and Jeff' (at Utah)," Nosworthy said. "We were inseparable. Rod and I have been friends ever since."

AFTER RETURNING from Vietnam, Marinelli played at California Lutheran, then got into coaching - first at his alma mater, Rosemead (Calif.) High, then at Utah State, California, USC and Arizona State.

Marinelli then was an assistant coach with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for 10 seasons, and he was defensive coordinator when the Bucs won the Super Bowl following the 2002 season.

He spent three years as head coach of the Detroit Lions, and was the defensive line coach for Chicago in 2009 before taking over the Bears' defense this season. The addition of defensive end Julius Peppers, as well as having linebacker Brian Urlacher healthy for an entire season, helped the Bears win the NFC North and earn the No. 2 seed to the playoffs.

But to hear Nosworthy tell it, Marinelli was a coach even when he was still a player.

"He was always motivating (at Utah)," Nosworthy said. "We'd be on the floor of the football stadium on Sunday, and he was helping me catch passes one handed, teaching me how to block.

"He just had this tenacious mentality," Nosworthy recalled. "But you could see he also wanted to teach."

SOME FORTY years later, Marinelli, Nosworthy and Hanifan still keep in touch, often by phone, sometimes in person. Most recently Hanifan, retired from coaching, was part of the pre- and post-game radio coverage for the Rams.

Nosworthy was there in St. Louis in 2000 when the Rams, with Hanifan as offensive line coach and Tampa Bay, with Marinelli as defensive line coach, squared off in the NFC championship game. The Rams won an 11-6 slugfest, and two weeks later won the Super Bowl.

"I talked to him (Marinelli) yesterday and in his words, 'this one is going to be epic,'" Nosworthy said earlier this week. "He said 'we're going to be tenacious with him (Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers); we're gonna put a ton of pressure on him. Pressure, pressure, pressure, we're not going to let up.'"

If the Bears win today, Nosworthy said he may try to find a way to Arlington, Texas, in two weeks for the Super Bowl. He recalled being at the Metrodome in Minneapolis in 1992 when the Washington Redskins, with Hanifan as offensive line coach and quarterback Mark Rypien as the MVP, beat the Buffalo Bills in the Super Bowl.

"There's not too many opportunities that come around like that," Nosworthy said. "It's been a fun ride with these guys."

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via e-mail at mnelke@cdapress.com.