Salem CC gets board approval to hire consultant to explore feasibility of bringing football to campus, already has some ‘powerful’ data
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
CARNEYS POINT – Is there football in Salem Community College’s future?
The prospect has been discussed from time to time, but Thursday evening the junior college’s Board of Trustees took a formal first step towards finding that answer when it authorized hiring a consultant for the next two months “in pursuit of a football program.”
The board’s action is not a mandate to field a football team, only to learn the feasibility of bringing the sport to campus. College president Mike Gorman told the board if the school is going to approve the program it needs to commit by mid-October for the team to start playing in 2026.
“There are probably 143 steps to getting this thing off the ground, this is probably Step 12,” Gorman said. “I’m excited to see what the research brings us.”
The board approved a two-month contract for former Rowan head football coach Jay Accorsi as consultant on the project. Accorsi first approached Salem officials in May about the prospects of starting football and they’ve had “extensive” informal conversations with a lot of preliminarily positive data since. The consulting contract will run from Aug. 25 to Oct. 25 at a rate of $400 per day not to exceed $15,000.
Athletics director Bob Hughes also is looking forward to the report.
“I’m excited to explore what football could mean not just for the college but for Salem County as a whole,” he said. “I think this brings educational opportunities to young men who otherwise might not have them and can create a better sense of community on the college’s campus.”
The Mighty Oaks currently offer men’s and women’s basketball, baseball, softball and, new this year, cross country – programs that all were either started or revived within the past seven years.
They have never sponsored football before, but explored the possibility of bringing it on line shortly before the COVID pandemic. If the board gives the go-ahead this time, the program would be a true start-up, with all the political, institutional, financial and athletic considerations that go with it. The school would have to buy uniforms and equipment, hire coaches, recruit players, build a schedule and, of course, secure a place to play.
Gorman estimated it would take an initial outlay of $500,000 to get the program off the ground.
“There are a number of questions that have to be addressed,” Gorman said.
“We have a lot of data that tells us not just why to do it, but how to do it and now it’s a matter of putting a plan into place,” Hughes said. “Being someone who very much enjoys creating systems and figuring out ways to do things we’re going to find out what the first step is and we’re going to do that, then we’ll do step two. We’re not going to try to put the cart before the horse.”
There is an opportunity for the Mighty Oaks in the market. Currently, there are 121 two-year colleges across the country playing football – 54 aligned with the National Junior College Athletic Association – but only one in New Jersey, none in Delaware and soon-to-be none in Pennsylvania. The other 67 are affiliated with the California Community College Athletic Association.
Sussex County CC is the only two-year school in New Jersey that has football. Lackawanna CC is the only one in Pennsylvania, but it will be transitioning to NCAA Division II in 2026-27.
Recent changes to the NCAA’s eligibility clock related to the junior college experience also work in Salem’s favor.
“If we’re going to do it, in all honesty, this is our window of opportunity to do it,” Gorman told the board.
The Mighty Oaks would play as a Division III (non-scholarship) independent for the first two years at least, Gorman said. In addition to four reasonably close New York JUCOs, there are numerous four-year junior varsity programs and trade schools in the region that could be prospective opponents. Home games could be played at area high schools until the Mighty Oaks found a permanent home.
“We wouldn’t be going forward if things weren’t pointing in the north direction now,” Gorman said. “You keep going forward until something tells you OK, now stop. Right now our internal work and the statistics and research we have been able to do have said this is worth going to the next level to talk about. Not necessarily to commit to yet, but hopefully with the feedback we get from (Accorsi) we’ll be able to make a good decision.”
Studies have indicated the addition of football promotes increased student enrollment and changes the perception of the college as a whole. Gorman told the board the addition of football could increase enrollment by more than 100. It also would narrow the school’s gender gap, which is now about 70-30 female.
Gorman was confident there are enough athletes in the immediate area that will be the program’s recruiting base to successfully field a team.
“It will draw, I have no doubt about that,” he said. “They would be pouring out to do this.”
At least one high school football coach in Salem County is excited about the prospect of college football coming to the county.
“I think it’d be a great idea,” Pennsville’s Mike Healy said. “I’ve had players in the past who’ve wanted to and were able to play college football, but because of the cost they never got the opportunity. Others weren’t sure if college was the best route for them and chose community college over playing football at a four-year university.”
In other action, the board approved an updated job description for an athletic coordinator (allowing for, among other things, the hiring of a head coach for another potential new program), and ratified the one-year stipends for new women’s basketball assistants Jeremy Jeane and Kayla Chambliss.
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